Thumbs Up For Notes Ban? After Maharashtra, BJP Wins Gujarat: 10 Points

MUMBAI:  The BJP has followed up its success in the Maharashtra civic elections with a sweep of by-elections to local bodies in Gujarat, asserting that the wins signal the people's support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ban on 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to combat black money.

Here are the 10 latest developments in the story:

In tweets PM Modi noted that the BJP "has performed very well" in recent elections and said, "These results across India illustrate that people want all-round progress of the nation and will not tolerate corruption and misgovernance."

In Gujarat, the BJP has today won 109 of 126 municipal and district panchayat seats in 16 districts to which by-elections were held, gaining 40 seats from the Congress, many of which it had relinquished in municipal elections last year under the leadership of then Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.

The Congress has managed to win only 17 seats. Today's victory is a big boost for the BJP, which has ruled Gujarat for the last two decades, but was seen to be struggling in the face of massive agitations by Patels and Dalits with less than a year to go for assembly elections in the state.

"People of India back note ban move... Our performance in local polls held across two states present the mood of the nation. We sense they are with us ," said Union minister Prakash Javadekar.

In Maharashtra, the BJP has made big gains in the first phase



of key civic elections winning 851 of 3,705 seats across 147 municipal councils and 17 panchayats. BJP candidates have won in 52 councils where council chiefs were elected directly.

The BJP has made inroads into traditional strongholds of the Congress and NCP, former partners who are contesting the civic elections separately. Two top Congress leaders, Prithiviraj Chauhan and Narayan Rane, both former Maharashtra Chief Ministers, have lost seats in their areas.

"The Maharashtra result should be a wakeup call for opposition attempting to mislead people on #Demonetisation, a decision in national interest," tweeted BJP chief Amit Shah, congratulating Mr Fadnavis and party workers for the "excellent performance."

By-elections held earlier this month in seven states for assembly and parliamentary seats were the first polls since PM Modi announced the notes ban. The BJP said its sweep of the by-polls in three states it rules was evidence of people's support for the ban.

But West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, at the forefront of opposition protests against the demonetisation, described her big win in her state as a strong people's vote against the notes ban.

A united opposition has held up parliament accusing the government of causing immense hardship to people who have struggled to get new currency amid a cash crunch after the notes ban. PM Modi has promised that the situation will ease within 50 days.