Gujarat Municipal polls: AAP defeats Congress in Surat, bags 27 seats

AAP won 27 seats in Surat and became the main opposition in the city.

The Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the main opposition party in the civic municipal polls by winning 27 seats in Surat while the Congress could not open its account in the city. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked the people of Gujarat and said on Wednesday that all winning candidates of his party shall execute their responsibilities with honesty.

The party chief said, "The people of Surat have defeated a 125-year-old party, the Congress, to give the AAP the responsibility of the main opposition. I would like to assure you that each of our winning candidates will handle the responsibility with honesty." Out of the total 576 seats, BJP won 483 seats while Congress came second by winning 55 seats.

AAP contested civic polls for the first time where it won 27 seats, all from Surat, where Congress did not win a single seat this time. However, AAP did not win a single seat elsewhere. Mr Kejriwal said that he will improve Gujarat in partnership with the people. "The politics of honesty, the politics of good schools, the politics of hospitals, the politics of inexpensive electricity with 24-hour supply," he said calling AAP's victory as the beginning of a new kind of politics in the state. Mr Kejriwal will visit Surat on February 26 in order to thank them.