Gujarat civic polls: Congress hails 'great news' as counting commences

NEW DELHI: Congress today hailed "great news" in Gujarat civic polls as it claimed it has won 20 of the 31 Zila Panchayats and was "in the fight" in another five in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Great news in Gujarat Civic Polls. Congress wins 20 out of 31 Zila Panchayats and in fight on another 5. Congrats to 6.5 crore Gujaratis!" chief party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on microblogging site twitter.com.

"Gujarat Civic Polls. CM Anandi Ben Patel loses her own Block Panchayat of Bhauchraji, Distt Mehsana. Hats off to people & Congress workers," he added.

Reports in Ahmedabad had it that Congress was leading in the district and taluka panchayats while BJP was ahead in corporations and municipalities as initial counting trends in the crucial civic polls in Gujarat started to pour in.

BJP had held earlier almost all the local bodies in the state.

The civic elections are significant for the ruling party against the backdrop of the Patel quota agitation as it is the first major political battle for Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.