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. In Gujarat, the BJP 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.
