Advani praises Modi after casting his vote in Gujarat local body polls

New Delhi: Putting aside the Bihar debacle, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani on Sunday lavished praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and expressed confidence that the party will win the state Municipal Co-operation elections just like the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

"I am happy that Narendra Modi is working as the Prime Minister of the country. I am confident that the BJP will win the local body elections in the same way as we won in the 2014 General Assembly Elections," said Advani after casting his vote in the local body elections here in Ahmedabad.

Six municipal corporations in Gujarat - Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar - currently under BJP rule, are seeking a fresh mandate from over 95.9 lakh urban voters.

This election will be a litmus test for Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and would also determine the impact of the ongoing agitation by the Patidar community. Barely days after its resounding defeat in Bihar, the BJP leadership faced its first open challenge from within since forming the government at the Centre in May last year.

Four veteran leaders, including LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, had issued a stinging statement that the party was being "forced to kowtow to a handful, its "consensual character has been destroyed, and it has been "emasculated" in the last year.