Counting of votes started this morning for the high-stakes Gujarat Assembly polls, considered a prestige battle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his home state and a litmus test for new Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
While the BJP is seeking a sixth straight term in office, the Congress is aiming to stage a comeback in power after being in the opposition for over two decades.
Follow OutlookIndia for real-time updates.
LIVE UPDATES-
09.53 A.M: The BJP appears to be ahead, leading in 104 seats. Congress leading in 77 seats.
09.33 A.M: Close fight between Congress and BJP. BJP leading in 92 seats, Congress in 84.
09.23 A.M: Indranil Rajyaguru of Congress is leading over BJP leader and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in Rajkot West after first round of counting. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel also trailing.
Rajyaguru secured 1,258 votes while Rupani got 491 votes after the end of first round of counting, as per election officials at the counting centre.
09.12 A.M: The Congress is leading in Saurashtra, where the BJP had won 30 out of 48 seats in 2012.
09.00 A.M: Congress is inching closer to BJP, both leading in 79 seats.
08.46 A.M: Postal votes being counted, BJP leads in 70 seats, Congress 35, Others-1.
08.40 A.M: BJP is eyeing its sixth term in the state, leading in 60 seats. Congress still behind with 25, others get 1.
08.29 A.M: The BJP appears to be ahead, leading in 41 seats. The Congress is not far behind at 11. For the 182 seats up for grabs, a total of 1,828 candidates contested the elections which were held in two phases on December 9 and 14.
The counting of votes will be held at 37 centres across the state's 33 districts, amidst tight security.
The voting was held following an acrimonious campaign where both the main political parties indulged in no-holds- barred attacks on each others.
The main contestants from the BJP are Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani (Rajkot West), Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel (Mehsana) and state BJP unit president Jitu Vaghani (Bhavnagar West).
The main contenders from the Congress are Shaktisinh Gohil (Mandvi), Arjun Modhvadia (Porbandar), Siddharth Patel (Dabhoi), and Paresh Dhanai (Amreli).
OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, who joined the Congress ahead of polls is fighting from Radhanpur seat, while Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani is contesting from Vadgam.
An average 68.41 per cent polling was recorded in the polls.
The total voter turnout this time saw a dip of 2.91 per cent, as compared to the 2012 polls when 71.32 per cent polling was registered.
In the 2012 polls, the BJP had won 115 seats and the Congress 61 seats, while others and independents had bagged six seats.
(Inputs from PTI)
The campaign by Vomit Shah to get the Bhakt Jumla Party at least 150 seats in Gujarat will now quietly disappear down the memory hole.