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Journalism of Courage
Counting of votes in the recently concluded Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections will begin on Monday. Party leaders from both the BJP and Congress are hoping to win the public mandate in the hotly contested battle.
Between Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the anti-incumbency factor is high in the northern state where Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is facing charges in a disproportionate assets case. The rape and murder case of a minor school student earlier this year also fanned the already growing disenchantment with the Congress government in the state. Meanwhile, in Gujarat, Congress pulled out all stops in its attempt to wrest control from the BJP, which held power for 22 years.
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Political analysts believe the economic policies of the Narendra Modi government — mainly demonetisation and GST — have alienated a section of the voters who voted for the BJP in the name of development. So the elections are also being seen as a test of popularity for PM Narendra Modi who extensively campaigned during the polls. On the other hand, the polls will be a moment of reckoning for Rahul Gandhi who officially took charge of the Congress party on Saturday. Gandhi’s campaign in Gujarat was aggressive in attacking the incumbent government on its policies.
Gujarat, Himachal assembly election results
10.30 pm:
09.30 pm:
08.15 pm:
07.30 pm:
07.00 pm:
6.30 pm:
5.20 pm: The turnout at the six booths in Gujarat till noon was “high”, an official said, but did not elaborate on the number of voters exercising their franchise.
4.40 pm: Himachal Pradesh witnessed a record 75.28 per cent turnout. Adequate security arrangements have been made for counting which would start simultaneously in all 68 constituencies at 42 counting centres.
3.15 pm:
3.00 pm: “These are baseless allegations. I don’t think any clarification is needed. Even if any clarification is to be issued, it will be issued by EC,” says Avantika Singh, Ahmedabad collector on Hardik Patel’s tweet that 140 engineers were hired to tamper with 5000 EVMs.
2.50 pm: Exit polls predict BJP’s win in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat
2.45 pm: Exit polls predicted a win for the BJP in both the states. The lowest for the BJP in Gujarat was predicted by the survey conducted by India Today-Axis My India, which said the saffron party would get 99-113 seats. Meanwhile, News 24-Today’s Chanakya predicted that the BJP would win 124-146 seats, up to 31 seats more than its present tally in the House. In Himachal, the lowest predicted for the Congress was 6 by News 24-Today’s Chankaya and the maximum for BJP was 55 by Chanakya and India Today-Axis My India survey.
2.40 pm: Repolling was conducted in six booths in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Banaskantha districts of the state on Sunday morning. The repolling was necessitated after an election officer forgot to remove the mock poll data before the commencement of the actual voting.
2.35 pm: “Congress party has always fought on the issue of development and no doubt in last five years state has seen rapid development” Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh told reporters today. Read more here.
2.30 pm: Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani on Sunday rubbished the exit poll predictions and said the BJP would not form the government in Gujarat this time. Read more here.
