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The BJP, which romped home in all five previous Assembly polls since 1995, retained Gujarat once again by winning 99 out of 182 seats. The Congress won 77 seats, compared to 61 in the 2012 elections. The party’s stand was rejected by the people of Gujarat after playing all dirty cards and even its failure to retain power in Himachal Pradesh, the grand old party now confines itself only in Karnataka and Punjab among the major States, besides three smaller states and UTs.
It is 2-0 to the BJP, which has swept both in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in the recently concluded elections. Riding on the popularity of PM Shri Narendra Modi’s remarkable leadership and his appeal across caste and class divide, and BJP National President Shri Amit Shah’s outstanding grassroots mobilization, the BJP proved the skeptics wrong by retaining Gujarat for the sixth time in a row. Together, with a comfortable win in Himachal Pradesh it seems that BJP is inching closer towards it’s stated goal of a “Congress-Mukth Bharat”.
The BJP, which romped home in all five previous Assembly polls since 1995, retained Gujarat once again by winning 99 out of 182 seats. The Congress won 77 seats, compared to 61 in the 2012 elections. The party’s stand was rejected by the people of Gujarat after playing all dirty cards and even its failure to retain power in Himachal Pradesh, the grand old party now confines itself only in Karnataka and Punjab among the major States, besides three smaller states and UTs.
If BJP National President Shri Amit Shah was engaged in micro management at the grassroots level, then PM Shri Modi led the BJP campaign from the front Shri Modi was again able to win over the voters and convinced them that BJP alone could take Gujarat and the nation on the path of development and economic revival.
As per the results declared by the Election Commission, the BJP has got close to 49.1 per cent votes in Gujarat, higher than 1.1 per cent from 48 per cent it polled in the 2012 assembly polls. On the other hand, Congress got 41.4 per cent vote share this time – up from 39 per cent in the 2012 assembly election.
Noteworthy, in the 2012 elections, the BJP had won 115 seats while the Congress emerged victorious in 61 seats. The BJP has won every election since 1995 in Gujarat.
As per the results declared the independents have scored 4.3 per cent votes in Gujarat, while 1.8 per cent voters opted for NOTA (None of the above). No party other than the BJP and Congress got even 1 per cent votes.
The results also prove wrong those who predicted that senior Gujarat leaders are on a sticky wicket. CM Shri Rupani won by a margin of over 54,000 votes from Rajkot West Assembly constituency by defeating the wealthiest candidate in fray, Indranil Rajguru of the Congress. Apart from the CM, Gujarat’s Deputy CM also emerged victorious by margin over 12,700 votes from Mehsana constituency in North Gujarat.
Like earlier occasions once again, the BJP won majority of highly urban seats situated in and around four biggest cities of Gujarat – Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot. Out of 55 such seats, the BJP won 44. The party won 55 seats out of remaining 127 seats in rest of Gujarat.
After BJP’s victory BJP National President Shri Amit Shah said, “Dynasty, casteism and appeasement has lost to development”.
Reacting on the results, CM Shri Vijay Rupani said considering BJP’s 22 years long stint as the ruling party, the party’s victory was commendable. People of Gujarat once again trusted BJP’s development poll plank, he said.
After running an aggressive campaign in Himachal Pradesh, BJP claimed a huge victory in the state. In Himachal Pradesh uprooting the five years old corrupt Congress rule the BJP has won 44 of 68 seats and the Congress has won 21.
Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh threw up the expected result. Voters gave BJP a huge victory, even increased its vote share substantially, from 38.7% in 2012 to 48.7% in 2017. The majority mark in the state is 35. In the outgoing House, Congress had 36 seats, and BJP 26 seats.
Congress mustered only 21 seats, even as its vote share fell from 42.8% in 2012 to 41.8% this time.
After a meeting of its parliamentary board, BJP announced that Union Defence Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and Union minister for rural development Shri Narendra Tomar would visit the state and talk to leaders before a CM is announced.
@arunjaitley
We received 49% votes, more than what was predicted in Exit Polls. This is a victory for development. Congress must introspect what went wrong for them
@nsitharaman
Undoubtedly, a major victory. The kind of work which Party workers have done right from booth workers level till PM’s level, everybody put their best foot forward. People of Gujarat have recognized the good work going on in the state.
Foreign media on Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh election results
“In India, Modi’s party shows its might in state elections. the prime minister’s newest electoral triumphs are in the swing state of Himachal Pradesh, and his home turf, Gujarat”. The Bharatiya Janata Party seemed to “continue to be a formidable political force.” It won in spite of its rivals’ “aggressive campaigning” and “talk about rising discontent over India’s economy…” the report added.— (The New York Times, 19 Dec, 2017)
While Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won convincingly in Himachal Pradesh, it won 99 constituencies in Gujarat assembly seats.
— (The CNBC , 19 Dec, 2017)
The election was seen as a referendum on last year’s ban on high-value currency notes and the goods and services tax roll out this year.
— (The Bloomberg , 19 Dec, 2017)
The election in Gujarat was bitterly fought, with campaigning marked by some of the sharpest verbal duels seen in recent Indian elections.
— (The Associated Press , 19 Dec, 2017)
EC SAYS 100% MATCH IN RANDOM VOTE COUNT ON EVMS, VVPAT SLIPS
There was a “100 per cent match” in the random vote count on EVMs and paper trail slips carried out by the Election Commission in 182 Gujarat polling stations on December 18, 2017, a senior official said.
The EC had said it would conduct random vote counts on EVMs and VVPAT slips in one polling station in each of the 182 Assembly constituencies. “There was a 100 per cent match in the results of the EVM and the slips produced by the paper trail machines,” the official of the election machinery said.
The polling stations were decided through a draw of lots in which the candidates or their agents were also present. The EC had decided to match the tally in select polling stations amid allegations that the EVMs were compromised to help the BJP.