Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to thank 'people of Gujarat' after his party put up an impressive show in the civic elections, even winning seats in the Bharatiya Janata Party's bastions.
The Congress won 22 of the 31 district panchayats and also grabbed more seats than the BJP in the 230 taluka panchayats that had gone to polls.
The BJP, however, won all six municipal corporations and a majority of the municipalities.
But, the Congress party's performance is significant given that it was all but ousted from the state in the last civic elections in 2010.
One of the big wins for Congress came in the district panchayat election in Mehsana, which is the home district of PM Narendra Modi as well as of Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel.
Rahul Gandhi hailed Gujarat Congress workers on Thursday, a day after the civic poll results were declared.
Ahmed Patel, personal secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, said on Twitter that the results showed the BJP government was 'on its way out'.
While some BJP workers blamed the recent Patidar protests in the state for the party's poor performance in rural areas, BJP leaders, including the Gujarat Chief Minister, also took to Twitter to hail the victory in the urban belts.
