The counting of votes for the 182-seat Gujarat assembly is underway after a two-phase election to pick the new government in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, with early trends on Monday showing the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead and the Congress at a close second.
The results of the Gujarat elections are seen as a litmus test for the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The Election Commission of India is announcing the results on eciresults.nic.in. According to figures released by the Election Commission, an average 68.41% polling was recorded in the elections.
Seven exit polls say the BJP will retain power in Gujarat, where the saffron party has ruled for almost two decades but is battling an agrarian crisis and protests from its loyal Patidar vote bank. Monday’s early trends showed Rahul Gandhi’s Congress was giving the BJP a tough fight in Gujarat.
Here are live updates on the Gujarat election results:
10.31am: “Ultimately, the BJP is going to register a victory. Contrary to early trends, the BJP is leading almost everywhere now,” says Nitinbhai Patel, who is presently trailing by over 2,000 votes.
10.29am: Gujarat election result trends right now: BJP: 101; Congress: 79; Others: 2.
10.25am: The BJP’s Vijay Rupani is now leading by 18,000 votes.
10.07am: Gujarat election result trends right now: BJP: 100; Congress: 80; Others: 2.
10.01am: The Congress’ Shaktisinh Gohil is trailing by 1,355 votes from Kutch’s Mandvi.
10am: All of the Patels leading by the largest margins are from the BJP. Learn this and more from our Gujarat live results map.
9.52am: Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani is leadings, but senior BJP leaders Nitin Patel and Saurabh Patel are trailing in their constituencies. Get the latest on Gujarat key candidates.
9.51am: The BJP and Congress are locked in a close contest in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state. Full story.
9.50am:Gujarat election result trends right now: BJP: 97; Congress: 83; Others: 2.
9.41am: “The mood of the people of Gujarat will lead the Congress to victory. I can’t comment much on initial trends; let the final results come,” says Gujarat party in-charge Ashok Gehlot.
9.37am: The BJP’s Vijay Rupani is leading by 1,800 votes from Rajkot West.
9.29am: Gujarat election result trends right now: BJP: 94; Congress: 82; Others: 4.
9.25am: The BJP’s Nitinbhai Patel is trailing by over 3,000 votes from Mahesana. The Congress’ Arjun Modhwadia is trailing by 989 from Porbandar.
9.24am: Gujarat election result trends right now: BJP: 86; Congress: 84; Others: 3
9.18am: Sensex is down over 700 points as the early trends in the Gujarat election results are coming in.
9.17am: The BJP and Congress are now tied at 75 seats, according to trends shown by Rajya Sabha TV.
9.13am: Gujarat election result trends right now: BJP: 80; Congress: 70; Others: 1
9.07am: Congress’ Shaktisinh Gohil trailing by 1,300 votes from Kutch’s Mandvi.
9.05am: Gujarat election result trends right now: BJP: 85; Congress: 65; Others: 1.
9.02am: The BJP’s Vijay Rupani is trailing; Congress candidate in Radhanpur, Alpesh Thakor, is leading.
8.56am: Gujarat election result trends right now: BJP: 90; Congress: 58; Others: 1.
8.48am: Meanwhile, votes are also being counted for the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly. Follow our live coverage of the Himachal election results.
8.46am: The latest trends show the BJP leading in 84 seats. The Congress is ahead in 52 seats.
8.42am: Shaktisinh Gohil of the Congress is leading in Mandvi.
8.36am: Trends show the BJP is ahead in 65 seats. The Congress is leading in 44 seats.
8.30am: The BJP is leading in 45 seats and the Congress is ahead in 27 constituencies.
8.22am: Early trends show the BJP leading in 25 seats and the Congress ahead in 18 seats, according to Rajya Sabha TV.
8.19am: “Questions being raised about EVMs have already been answered by us in the media. VVPATs were there in every polling stations in Gujarat, which enabled voters to see whom they voted for, so issues being raised aren’t right,” says CEC, AK Joti.
8.17am: “I assure you that there can be no tampering with the EVMs,” says Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti.
8.13am: “Tight security arrangements have been made, police personnel adequately stationed across the region,” says Surat police commissioner Satish Kumar Sharma.
8.11am: Initial trends show BJP leading in eight seats. The Congress is ahead in four seats.
7.51am: Here are five factors that may influence the Gujarat election results.
7.30am: In 2012, the BJP won 115 seats, while the Congress bagged 61. The Congress’ average victory margin stood at 13,577 votes across the 61 seats it won in 2012. Since 1995, the BJP has been in the power in Gujarat.
6.53am: A day before the counting of votes, the Election Commission of India withdrew its notice to Rahul Gandhi over his television?interviews in the run-up to the second phase of the Gujarat elections. The EC also said it would set up a panel to review its model code of conduct. Full story.
6.47am: Ahead of Monday’s Gujarat election results, both the BJP and Congress are confident of victory. While all exit polls have predicted the BJP’s win, the Congress is hopeful of bagging the Patidar vote and overthrowing the Narendra Modi-led party from 22 years of governance in the state. Full story.
6.35am: The BJP is seeking a sixth straight term in office, while the Congress is aspiring to stage a comeback in power after being in the opposition for over two decades.
6.26am: After a gruelling campaign, India’s two biggest parties — the BJP and Congress — await the outcome of assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Here is what the election results in Gujarat and Himachal will mean for the two parties.
6.14am: As the Election Commission prepares to begin the counting of votes in the Gujarat elections, here is a look at what the exit polls predict for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.
6.10am: A total of 977 candidates were in the fray in the first phase of elections, with more than 2.22 lakh people casting their votes. In the second phase, 851 candidates contested.
6.05am: The counting for the two-phase Gujarat assembly elections will begin at 8am and early trends are expected to come by noon.
