Congress wins elections for DPCs in Dahod and Gandhinagar, loses in Ahmedabad

While the Congress won majority in the District Planning Committees(DPC) in Gandhinagar and Dahod zilla panchayats(ZP), it lost to BJP in Ahmedabad zilla panchayat, one of the most important district panchayats in the state.The elections for DCPs were held about a week ago.

The Congress rules zilla panchayats in the three districts where DCP elections were held. With Congress ruling the three zilla panchayats, it was expected that it would be in majority in DPCs as well in the three ZPs but BJP springing a surprise in Ahmedabad DPC indicates that Congress ZP members cross-voted and supported the BJP in DCP elections. BJP won all the 20 seats in Ahmedabad DCP, while Congress won 18 out of 20 seats in Dahod DPC and 16 out of 20 seats in Gandhinagar DPC. It is for the first time that DPC elections are being held in the state.

DPC elections are yet to be completed in the remaining 30 districts. A senior official in the state Panchayat Raj department said that DPC elections in the rest of the districts would also be held in due course. The role of DPCs under the Panayati Raj system is to prepare the development plans for the district. Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi, however, did not make any comment on cross-voting in Ahmedabad ZP.