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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seems to be emerging as the main opposition party in the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) polls, winning three wards against the BJP's 9.
Of the total 120 seats across wards, BJP has won 28 seats and AAP has won 8, so far. The Congress has failed to win even a single seat till now. With the Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) support to the AAP in the Surat Municipal Corporation polls, the AAP has an edge over the BJP's arch rival Congress. All the AAP candidates in wards 2, 4 and 16 of the SMC, won against their rivals, the BJP and the Congress, winning the three wards out of the total 30 wards. AAP candidates in ward 17 are also leading, and are expected to win the entire ward. Another AAP candidate in ward 8 has also won. AAP candidates had such overwhelming support in ward 4 that all candidates won by around 20,000 votes over their rivals. The Congress had given ticket to only one of the three names proposed by the PAAS for the candidature of Patidar-dominated areas. After that PAAS quit the alliance with the Congress for the civic polls. PAAS conveners Dharmik Malaviya and Alpesh Katheriya had openly started visiting the election offices of AAP candidates, who were in the poll fray from Patidar-dominated areas. There are a total of seven SMC wards where the Patel community has dominance. The emergence of AAP as an alternative has not only jolted the Congress, but it is also a warning sign for newly-appointed BJP state chief C.R. Patil who hails from the Diamond City. Disgruntled BJP members have been expressing this as a concern. --IANS amc/kr ( 300 Words) 2021-02-23-16:24:06 (IANS)
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