New Delhi, Dec 18 : The ruling BJP at the Centre, fighting one of the most bitterly and closely contested Assembly elections, is all set to retain Gujarat and wrest hill state of Himachal Pradesh from the Congress with a convincing margin.
In Gujarat, the saffron party had won 22 seats, and the Congress 17 as per the Election Commission figures till 1430 hrs. The BJP is maintaining lead at 77 seats, and the Congress was ahead on 60 seats, as per the results and trends of counting of votes in the Assembly elections available at 1430 hrs.
In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP had bagged three seats so far as against two of the ruling Congress. However, the saffron party was leading on 40 seats and the grand old party on 19 seats in the 68 member Assembly.
Though these two imminent victories would be adding just another feather in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cap ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress can also take some satisfaction from its performance in Gujarat as it seems set to increase its tally by around 20 seats.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi campaigned tirelessly for about three months, giving some anxious moments to the ruling party.
Though the BJP is set to lose seats in Gujarat this time despite victory, its vote share has gone up. It has secured 49 per cent vote, around two per cent more than in the 2012 elections. The Congress has also increased its vote percentage having secured 41.4 per cent from 38.9 per cent last time.
UNI
Comments are closed.