Ahmedabad: The first result in the Gujarat polls went to BJP with Fisheries Minister Babubhai Bokhiriya defeating Congress' Arjun Modhvadia in Porbandar, as the saffron party was set to retain power for a record sixth term.
According to trends available for all the seats, the BJP had won six seats and was leading in 96 seats of the total 182 seats while the Congress had won two seats and was leading in 72 seats.
File image of Babubhai Bokhiria. Image courtesy: Twitter
Bokhiriya defeated Modhvadia by a margin of 1,855 votes, according to election officials.
The BJP has won every election since 1995 in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. However, it was out of power for a couple of years due to party infighting and rebellion by Shankersinh Vaghela. BJP came back to power in 1998, and has ruled uninterrupted since then.
The Election Commission figures, meanwhile, showed that the NCP was leading in one seat and the Bhartiya Tribal Party of Chottu Vasava in two seats. Besides, three independents were also leading.
To form a government in the state, a party or a coalition needs at least 92 seats in the 182-member Assembly.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was earlier trailing after the count of postal ballots, also won the Rajkot West seat.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel who was also trailing from Mehsana against Congress candidate Jivabhai Patel earlier, is now leading by a margin of over 5,000 votes.
Congress' Alpesh Thakor is leading in Radhanpur seat against Lavingji Thakor of BJP.
Senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil is trailing against BJP's Virendrasinh Jadeja from Mandvi seat.
State BJP chief Jitu Vaghani is leading over Dilipsinh Gohil of Congress in Bhavnagar West.
Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, who is contesting as independent from Vadgam seat with Congress's support, is leading against BJP candidate Vijay Chakravarti.
The elections for 182-seat Assembly were held on December 9 and 14, after an acrimonious campaign, which was dominated by a face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
In the 2012 elections, the BJP had won 115 seats while the Congress emerged victorious on 61 seats.
Published Date: Dec 18, 2017 01:02 pm | Updated Date: Dec 18, 2017 01:04 pm
