Gujarat, Dec.8: Counting of votes to determine who will rule two states – Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh – for the next five years began at 8 am today, December 8. The BJP won emphatically in Gujarat while the Congress returned to power in Himachal Pradesh.
Results of the bypolls to five assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat, Mainpuri, were also announced on Thursday.
The Election Commission has declared the results for all 182 constituencies in Gujarat. The BJP stormed back to power with an unprecedented mandate of 156 seats, while the Congress won 17 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party won five seats. Independent candidates won 3 seats while the Samajwadi Party bagged one.
The Election Commission has declared the results of all 68 assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. The Congress party has secured 40 seats, five more than the majority mark. The BJP was able to win 25 seats, while independents secured three seats. The Aam Aadmi Party could not open its tally in the state.
The ruling BJP retained the power for the seventh straight time in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state with a landslide victory, while Congress seems to be heading for one of its worst tally of 33 in 1990. Getting support from all sections, the BJP got 147 seats and was leading in 9 in a House of 182 garnering a vote share of nearly 53 per cent, which was the highest for any party in the western state.
BJP also registers three records in Gujarat simultaneously. It won maximum seats, maximum vote share and largest lead in the state polls.
In 2002 Gujarat elections, BJP won 127 seats under the leadership of then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP has not lost an election in the state since 1995. Congress’ Madhav Singh Solanki government held the record of highest ever seats of 149 in 1985.
