BJP sweeps local body polls in Jharkhand, Amit Shah says people trust PM Modi's 'model of development'

Ranchi: In a big boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his chief election strategist and party president Amit Shah, the ruling BJP on Friday won all the five municipal corporations and registered thumping victories in Nagar Parishad and Nagar Panchayat polls in Jharkhand.

The victory holds significance for BJP since it was the first time that the polls were held on party lines in Jharkhand. While BJP's Asha Lakra won the Mayor's post for the Ranchi Municipal Corporation, Sanjiv Vijayavergiya won the deputy Mayor's post, State Election Commissioner NN Pandey told a press conference after counting of the votes.

While Lakra defeated Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Varsha Gaadi, Vijayavergiya trounced Congress' Rajesh Kumar Gupta.

Roshni Tirkey won the Mayor's post in Hazaribagh Municipal Corporation defeating Gunja Devi of the Congress and Raj Kumar Lal won the Deputy Mayor's post by trouncing Anand Dev of Congress.

In Giridih, Sunil Kumar Paswan won the Mayoral post beating Congress's Samir Raj Choudhary while Prakash Ram won the Deputy Mayor's post by defeating Mohammad Istiak of the Congress.

In Adityapur Municipal Corporation, Vinod Srivastav defeated Congress's Yogendra Sharma for the post of Mayor while Amit Singh won Deputy Mayor's post defeating Manoj Mahto of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

For Medininagar Municipal Corporation, Aruna Shankar defeated independent candidate Punam Singh to win the Mayor's post, Rakesh Kumar Singh defeated Congress's Manoj Singh for the post of Deputy Mayor.

"It was a challenge to hold the Municipal Corporation elections on party lines as it was held on party lines for the first time". The elections were held in a peaceful, fair and transparent manner with the cooperation of the district electoral officers," Pandey said.

The BJP also performed well in the Nagar Parishad and Nagar Panchayat polls. 

The BJP also performed well in the Nagar Parishad and Nagar Panchayat polls. The party won seven posts of president and five vice president in 16 Nagar Parishads. 

The opposition parties - JMM and Congress - managed to win four and two president posts respectively, and two and three of vice president posts, respectively. 

In Nagar Panchayat elections, the BJP won nine president and five vice president posts of the total of 14 Nagar Panchayats. 

Reacting to the victory, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said, "It's a victory of the BJP workers. This is a victory of development. We congratulate people of the state for the victory." 

CM Raghubar Das also gave the credit for BJP's victory in Jharkhand to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah. 

"This is the victory of PM Modi's policies and Amit Shah's guidance. This indicates the developmental work done by the government in the state,'' Das said.

He also said that the people of the state know that the party supports developmental politics. Das added that the BJP's sole purpose is - the overall development of Jharkhand. 

Later, BJP president Amit Shah also hailed the party workers and leaders for the thumping victory in the Jharkhand local body polls.

झारखण्ड नगर निगम, नगर निकाय और नगर पंचायत चुनावों में भाजपा को मिली भव्य जीत पर मुख्यमंत्री श्री @dasraghubar जी, प्रदेश अध्यक्ष श्री लक्ष्मण गिलुवा जी व प्रदेश के सभी कर्मठ कार्यकर्ताओं को हार्दिक बधाई। भाजपा में विश्वास प्रकट करने के लिए झारखण्ड की जनता का हृदय से अभिनंदन। pic.twitter.com/4kdJbPLkg0 — Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 20, 2018

The victory in Jharkhand reaffirms that people of this country have deep faith in BJP and PM Narendra Modi's 'model of development', Shah said in a tweet.

Shah also said that from panchayat to Parliament, the popular support is with the BJP. 

The outcome of the local body polls in Jharkhand holds significance since they were billed as a major test for the ruling party ahead of the assembly elections in 2019.

Besides BJP, the opposition parties including JMM, Congress, AJSU, RJD and AAP – a new entrant - had left no stone unturned in ensuring the victory of their candidates in Jharkhand local body polls.