Gujarat, Himachal election results: Stage set for counting as BJP, Congress vie for power

READ | Narendra Modi is the LoC in Gujarat, one that is still tough for the Congress to cross

To bring transparency in the voting procedure, the Election Commission used VVPAT machines for voting for the first time. The election body also introduced live webcasts from 2,300 polling stations to ensure free and fair polling across the state’s 12 districts.

Meanwhile, in Gujarat, the counting of votes will be held at 37 centres across 33 districts, amidst tight security. The final figure of voter turnout registered after the second phase of elections was 67.75 per cent, a four per cent drop from 2012. During the elections, VVPAT-fitted EVMs were used for the first time in the state at 50,128 polling stations.

The voting in the state was held following a wide range of acrimonious campaigns where both the main political parties indulged in scathing attacks on each other. The election is seen as a prestige battle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his home turf and a litmus test for newly-appointed Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Exit polls predictions

The exit polls held after the second phase of Gujarat elections on December 14, 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.

For Himachal Pradesh that has a strength of 68 seats, the lowest predicted for the Congress was 6 by News 24-Today’s Chanakya and the maximum for BJP was 55 by Chanakya and India Today-Axis My India survey.

A day ahead of the counting Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said, “The results are going to be in BJP’s favour and the party will form Government in Gujarat; people of the state have chosen development.”

Earlier in the day, Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani rubbished the exit polls and said the BJP would not form the government this time. The Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch leader said, “Exit polls are nonsense. BJP is definitely going to lose this time and will not form the government.”

On Saturday, Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh too rejected all predictions of the exit polls about BJP forming government in the state and said that the predictions were manipulated and unscientific.

“Exit polls should be banned in our country. These are not based on facts or real factors. I know the people’s pulse. I have been on the ground during campaigning. I have more sense of what people think than those conducting such exit polls. Exit polls have also been proved wrong in the past,” the chief minister said.

On the other hand, the BJP is quite confident of the exit poll results. Former Himachal chief minister and senior BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal was highly optimistic and said the results would be same as projected in the exit polls.

READ | LIVE UPDATES: All set for counting as BJP, Congress vie for power

2012 Assembly polls

In Gujarat, the BJP had won 115 seats, the Congress 61 and in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress had won 36 and the BJP 26 seats.

Re-polling

Re-polling was held at six booths in four Assembly constituencies of Gujarat on Sunday. The re-polling was necessitated after an election officer forgot to remove the mock poll data before the commencement of the actual elections. Over 70 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the re-polling.

The polling is being held at two booths each in Vadgam and Savli constituencies and one each in Viramgam and
Daskroi constituencies. According to an election official, the voter turnout at the six booths till noon was “high”, but did not elaborate on the number of voters exercising their franchise.

Himachal Pradesh election campaign

BJP’s main focus during the election campaign in Himachal was corruption while launching an attack on the Opposition. During one of his public rallies, PM Narendra Modi said the only identity of the Congress party now is corruption. In the meantime, the Congress party during its campaign in the hill state attacked the Centre over its economic policies mainly — demonetisation and GST (Goods and service tax).

READ | Prem Kumar Dhumal eyes big win, Virbhadra Singh high on hope

Gujarat election campaign

PM Modi led an aggressive campaign for the BJP in his home state, while Rahul Gandhi was the pivot of the Congress’ electioneering. During the campaign, the prime minister and BJP chief Amit Shah hit out at the Congress on various issues like Ram Temple, alleged Pakistani interference in the Gujarat polls and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s remarks against PM Modi for which he was later suspended from the party and widely criticised.

Meanwhile, newly elected Congress president Rahul Gandhi persistently attacked PM Modi and his party for “not talking about the future of Gujarat” and skipping key issues being faced by the people of the state. He was also seen visiting as many as a dozen temples during his intense campaign in the state.

The Opposition also spoke about a broad social coalition with prominent Patidar, OBC, and Dalit leaders – Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani – in its bid to unseat the BJP in power for over two decades.

READ | Exit polls are nonsense, BJP will definitely lose, says Jignesh Mevani

The Patidar leader led a long agitation of his community for reservation, while Thakor led a counter-protest against the inclusion of Patidars in the OBC reservation list. Mevani raised his voice against Dalit atrocities.

The Patidar community in Gujarat accounts for around 12 percent of its population, and could prove to be the ‘X factor’ in the polls in which Patel pledged support to the Congress and appealed to people to “uproot the BJP” this time.

The two rival parties also countered each other on social media by releasing videos as the Congress and its supporters launched the campaign “Vikas Gando Thayo Che” (development has gone crazy), while the BJP launched a counter drive of “I am development, I am Gujarat”.

(With inputs from Agencies)