BJP leads in Morbi where over 130 died in bridge collapse
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Morbi: Contrary to the predictions of backlash, the BJP is leading in Morbi, which is the site of October 30 bridge collapse that killed many sightseers.
The BJP's Kantibhai Amrutiya, who was praised for wading into the river to save people, is leading in the constituency.
Amrutiya is well ahead of Jayanti Patel of the Congress and Pankaj Ransariya representing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the constituency.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, the local administration and the state government faced severe criticism from the Opposition including the new entrant AAP.
The local administration in particular was blamed for violating rules in hiring a private company for maintenance of the bridge from the British-era.
The bridge went down with days after it was reopened following seven months of repairing by Oreva, a company that is known to be a watch maker.
The ruling BJP was troubled by the controversy over the overnight cleaning of a hospital in Morbi ahead of Prime Minister Modi's visit to the wounded admitted to the hospital.
The BJP went to the polls dropping its sitting MLA and minister, Brijesh Mishra, a former Congress leader.