Gandhinagar, Dec 9: The Gujarat Assembly elections are a closely watched contest between the rivals Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress to take control over the politically important state, which is also the "motherland" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The polling for the first phase of Gujarat elections began on Saturday morning. The second and final leg of polling will take place on December 18. The results of 182-member Assembly elections in the state will be declared by the Election Commission on December 18.
Months before the elections, BJP president Amit Shah asked his party cadres to ensure that the incumbent saffron party wins the polls with 150 seats, this time. If the BJP manages to win 150 seats in the Assembly elections it would be a record.
Actually, it was the Congress which holds the record of winning the maximum seats in any Assembly elections in the state. In 1985, the Congress won 149 seats in the Assembly elections. Till date, no party has managed to break the record.
However, the BJP is confident that this time under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party could break the Congress' record.
In the last Assembly elections in Gujarat in 2012, the BJP won 116 seats as against 60 seats by the Congress. The saffron party is in power in the state for the last 22 years.
"We are going to win 150-plus seats under the leadership of PM Modi ji, we face no obstacles," Jitu Vaghani, BJP Gujarat chief and candidate from Bhavnagar west, was quoted as saying by ANI.
While appealing to the people to vote, incumbent chief minister Vijay Rupani exuded the confidence of winning the polls without any challenge. "People should come out in large numbers to vote. We are very confident, no question of any challenge," said Rupani.
OneIndia News
