A day after the BJP wrested power in five district panchayats from the Congress, the latter hit back and dislodged the BJP from Dangs district panchayat. Both BJP and Congress had nine members in the 18-member Dangs district panchayat. However, the Congress tally increased to 10 after BJP member Bibiben Chaudhary extended her support to the party on Thursday, said Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi. Wife of dissident BJP leader Ramesh Chaudhary, Bibiben was also elected president of the district panchayat at the ensuing general board meeting, while Haresh Bachhav was elected vice president. A day earlier, the BJP had wrested power in five district panchayats from Congress after the election for the post of president and vice president. These included Ahmedabad, Patan, Dahod, Mahisagar and Bhavnagar. The BJP is now in power in 13 out of 33 district panchayats in the state. In the wake of the setbacks, the Congress accused BJP of misusing the state machinery and using money power to lure Congress members. State Congress president Amit Chavda alleged that the BJP had offered Rs25 lakh to Rs2 crore to engineer defections in the Congress. However, the BJP denied the charges and alleged that Congress had lost power in many district panchayats because of its own shortcomings and people had lost faith in the party.

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