BJP establishes strong leads in Gujarat, close race with Congress in Himachal Pradesh
NEW DELHI, DEC 8: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in power in Gujarat since 1995, is aiming for a seventh straight term in the state.
All the exit polls have predicted a big majority for PM Modi’s party in Gujarat (with them winning 117-151 seats), while the Congress’ tally was predicted to fall to 16-51. New entrant Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign was projected by exit polls to be sound and fury signifying almost nothing — their tally was expected to be confined to between two to 13 seats.
Himachal Pradesh is expected to see a closer fight between the two main parties.
The state has not returned any incumbent government to power after 1985, but the ruling BJP, powered by PM Modi’s campaign, hopes to buck that trend. All but two exit polls have predicted an edge for them.
The saffron party has already returned to power in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Assam, and Uttarakhand, and is now hoping to add Himachal, the home state of BJP national president JP Nadda, to that list.
A lot is at stake for the Congress too, with insiders saying that any hopes for the party’s revival has to start from Himachal. The grand old party is currently only in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, both of which will go to polls in 2023.
