Election Results LIVE: BJP’s Gujrat Early Leads Cross 100; Tight Race In Himachal

As the stage is set for counting of votes for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, BJP is eyeing a record-extending seventh term in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state while hoping to buck the anti-incumbency trend in party president’s JP Nadda’s home state.

The exit polls have predicted a big win for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat but the survey agencies are divided on the result in Himachal Pradesh.

In Gujarat, the main challenge in front of Congress will be to retain its position as the principal opposition as debutant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ran an aggressive campaign to make inroads in the state. The poll outcome will determine if the AAP gets a chance to establish itself as a national party and a challenger to the BJP at the national level.

The grand old party, busy with Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra, is expecting the voters to go by the nearly four-decade old tradition of voting out the incumbent government in Himachal Pradesh. In the 2017 assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh with a house strength of 68, the BJP had won 44 seats and the Congress 21, with one seat going to the CPI-M, and two to independent candidates.