Gujarat election results 2017 LIVE: Narendra Modi flashes victory sign as BJP holds the fort

The Gujarat election results are expected to have a bearing on the 2019 elections as Modi had come to power in 2014 based on the Gujarat ‘model of development’. Photo: PTI

Ahmedabad: Counting of votes for Gujarat election results started at 8am today, in a conclusion to what is considered a prestige battle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his home state and a litmus test for new Congress president Rahul Gandhi. It began with the counting of postal ballots wherein BJP took early lead.

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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. The Gujarat election results are expected to have a bearing on the 2019 elections as Modi had come to power in 2014 based on the Gujarat “model of development”.

Click here for constituency-wise map for Gujarat election results

An average 68.41% polling was recorded in the two-phase Gujarat elections, a dip of 2.91% as compared to the 2012 polls. Here are the latest updates and developments of Gujarat election results:

■ From Porbandar constituency, BJP’s Babubhai Bhimabhai Bokhiriya wins against Congress candidate Arjunbhai Devabhai Modhvadiya by a margin of 17,146 votes, shows the Election Commission website.

■ The BJP today said the poll trends in its favour indicated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity was intact in his home state Gujarat and it was on its way to form government with a “comfortable majority”. BJP leaders said their party would “retain” power notwithstanding the opposition and the aggressive campaign by the Congress, particularly its new president Rahul Gandhi. It attributed the favourable trends to its Gujarat development model as the anti-incumbency factor had “failed”. The saffron party, however, said it will analyse the trends in detail later. (PTI)

■ BJP is leading in 104 seats while the Congress is ahead in 76 seats, reports NDTV at 11.25am. In two seats, candidates from other parties or independents are leading, it adds.

BJP’s Arvind Raiyani leading by 21,000 votes on Rajkot east seat, reports Tv9 Gujarati. Congress’ Shaktisinh Gohil trailing on Mandvi assembly seat; Congress’ Anil Joshiyara leading by 11,000 votes on Bhiloda seat; BJP’s Suresh Patel leading by 58,000 votes on Maninagar assembly seat, Tv9 Gujarati reports.

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■ Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani has secured an unassailable lead over Congress’s Indranil Rajyaguru in Rajkot West seat.

■ Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 pm over uproar by opposition and ruling members. (AIR)

■ Modi flashes victory sign

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flashed a victory sign after he arrived in Parliament, as the BJP pulled ahead of the Congress in trends for Himachal and Gujarat election results.

Though early trends showed a close fight between the BJP and the Congress in Gujarat, the ruling party marched ahead of its rival as counting of votes progressed. The BJP also appeared set to wrest power from the Congress Himachal Pradesh. The prime minister showed a victory sign after he arrived in Parliament to attend the winter session. Parliament re-convened today after the weekend break. (PTI)

■ BJP workers celebrate at party headquarters, as trends indicate BJP’s victory in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, reports ANI.

BJP’s Pradipsinh Jadeja leading by 30,000 votes on Vatva seat; BJP’s Nitin Patel leading by 2,481 votes on Mehsana assembly seat; BJP’s Yogesh Patel leading by 23,000 votes on Manjalpur assembly seat; BJP’s Jaynarayan Vyas trailing on Sidhdhpur assembly seat; BJP’s Suresh Patel leading by 58,000 votes on Maninagar assembly seat, reports Tv9 Gujarati.

■ Independent candidate Jignesh Mevani leading by 10785 in Vadgam, Vijay Rupani leading by 21,000 votes in Rajkot West. (ANI)

■ BJP ally Shiv Sena heaped praise on Rahul Gandhi, lauding the newly appointed Congress president for “fighting the Gujarat elections without bothering about the result”. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party said the 47-year-old Amethi MP has taken over the reins of the Congress at a crucial stage. “Rahul Gandhi has accepted the responsibility as Congress president at a crucial stage. There should be no objection in wishing him all the best,” said an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana. “Let Rahul Gandhi decide if he wishes to take the Congress party to the pinnacle of success or down the pit,” the Marathi daily said. (PTI)

■ The BJP has cornered 49.2% of the votes cast in Gujarat elections while the Congress has a vote share of 41, according to Election Commission data.

■ “Will form government in both Himachal and Gujarat with clear majority,” says home minister Rajnath Singh outside Parliament. (ANI)

■ The BJP is leading in 107 seats while the Congress nominees are ahead in 74 seats, according to trends for all seats for Gujarat elections, reports NDTV.

■ BJP’s Kumar Kanani leading on Varachha seat; BJP’s Vijay Rupani leading by 15,000 votes on Rajkot west assembly seat; BJP’s Jitu Vaghani trailing by 900 votes on Bhavnagar west seat; BJP’s Ramanlal Vora leading by 700 votes on Dasada seat; BJP’s Vallabh Kakadiya leading by 4,000 votes on Thakkarbapanagar assembly seat; BJP’s Tejshriben Patel leading on Viramgam seat, reports Tv9 Gujarati. Viramgam is reportedly the native place of Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel, it adds.

■ EC trends out for 141 seats: BJP leading in 77 seats (48.4% vote share) where as Congress leading in 59 seats (42.8% vote share). NCP leading in 1, Bharatiya Tribal Party (which is a Congress ally) in 2 and independents leading in 2 seats, reports Anuja for livemint.

■ Jignesh Mewani ahead in vadgam by 6000 votes, Divya Bhaskar reports.

Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani is contesting from Vadgam. Photo: Hindustan Times

■ BJP leads in 107 seats and Congress in 72, and others in 3 seat, reports NDTV.

■ Congress’ Sidhdharth Patel trailing by 5,000 votes on Dabhoi seat; BJP’s Rajni Patel trailing on Bechraji seat; BJP’s Vijay Rupani leading by 10,000 votes on Rajkot west assembly seat, Tv9 Gujarati.

EC trends out for 141 seats: BJP leading in 77 seats (48.4% vote share) where as Congress leading in 59 seats (42.8% vote share). NCP leading in 1, Bharatiya Tribal Party (which is a Congress ally) in 2 and independents leading in 2 seats, reports Anuja for livemint.

■ BJP is currently leading in 108 seats, while the Congress is ahead in 71 seats, reports NDTV as of 10.04am.

Gujarat elections initial trends is a big welcome gift for the challenger, Rahul Gandhi, the newly crowned Congress president; in fact, today is only his third day in the job. Read more

■ BJP’s CM VijayRupani leading by 7,816 votes on Rajkot west assembly seat; Congress’ Pushpaben Dabhi leading on Sanand assembly seat; BJP’s Nitin Patel leading by 3,000 votes on Mehsana assembly seat; BJP’s Bhushan Bhatt trailing by 20,000 votes on Jamalpur-Khadiya seat, reports Tv9 Gujarati.

BJP leads in 77 Assembly seats, Congress in 59, and others in 5, according to trends available for 141 seats in Gujarat. (PTI)

■ As of 9.30AM, Congress is gaining in at least 26 seats where BJP has a sitting MLA, could point out to anti-incumbency being a factor, reports Anuja for livemint.

■ Vijay Rupani leading by 7,600 votes from Rajkot West, at the end of Counting round 3.

■ BJP leads in 65 Assembly seats, Congress in 56, and others on two, according to trends available for 123 seats in Gujarat. (PTI)

■ Tv9Gujarati reports Congress’ Alpesh Thakor leading by 3,150 votes on Radhanpur seat; BJP’s Harsh Sanghvi leading on Majura seat; Congress’ Chhatrasinh Mori leading on Jambusar seat; Congress’ Shaktisinh Gohil trailing by 3,300 votes on Mandvi seat; BJP’s Vijay Rupani leading by 7,000 votes on Rajkot west assembly seat.

■ Congress’ Ashok Gahlot says ‘wait-and-watch’ on the Congress party making major gains in Gujarat.

■ BJP leads on 56 seats, Congress on 50, NCP on 1, Bhartiya Tribal Party 1 and independent on 1, as per trends available for 109 seats in Gujarat. (PTI)

■ BJP leads in 97 seats, while the Congress is ahead in 82 seats, according to NDTV. The BJP is at a loss of 16 seats, while the Congress has gained 21 seats, according to the channel.

■ EC trends out for 89 seats: BJP leading in 48 seats (48.6% vote share) where as Congress leading in 40 seats (43.9% vote share), NCP is leading in 1 (0.7% vote share), reports Anuja for livemint.

■ BJP’s Nitinbhai Patel trailing by over 3,000 votes from Mahesana, reports ANI. Meanwhile, Sensex down by 600.51 points, currently at 32,862.46. Nifty at 10,134.35. Catch for live updates from the markets.

■ Gujarat chief minister and BJP leader Vijay Rupani is trailing behind Congress candidate Indranil Rajyaguru from Rajkot West, as per the initial trends. 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. (PTI)

■ The BJP and the Congress were neck and neck in the early trends for Gujarat Assembly polls after one hour of counting of votes. (PTI)

■ EC trends: BJP leading on 24 seats, Congress on 21.

Congress’ Arjun Modhwadia trailing by 989 from Porbandar, reports ANI.

■ BJP leads in 91 seats, Congress in 79 and others in 1 seat, reports NDTV.

■ EC official trends for Gujarat Election 2017 shows BJP now leading on 20 seats, Congress on 9, Others 2. Congress’ Shaktisinh Gohil trailing by 1,300 votes from Kutch’s Mandvi, while chief minister Vijay Rupani trails by 800 votes from Rajkot West. BJP’s Nitin Bhai Patel is leading by 594 votes from Mahesana. (ANI)

Livemint’s Anuja reports: EC trends out for 35 seats in Gujarat: BJP leading in 17 (48% vote share), Congress in 18 (45.8% vote share). BJP is trailing in incumbent seats of Anand, Bhavnagar East, Bhavnagar West and Talaja as Congress is gaining in these seats.

■ BJP leads on 74 seats, while the Congress is ahead on 70 seats, Gujarat election results show. (NDTV)

■ BJP leads on 12 seats and Congress on 8 in Gujarat polls as initial trends pour in. (PTI)

■ BJP leading in 6 seats, while the Congress is ahead in 3 seats out of 9 constituencies of 182 seats in Gujarat, the Election Commission website says.

Congress leading in one seat of Mandvi and Nadiad where as BJP in Bhavnagar East and Porbandar seats, reports Anuja for livemint.

■ BJP is leading in 74 seats, while the Congress leads in 42 seats, reports NDTV.

■ BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain: “BJP will come to power with huge majority in Gujarat & #HimachalPradesh, ” reports DD News.

■ EVMs opened by officials at counting centre set up in Ahmedabad’s Gujarat College, reports ANI. Counting of votes continues, it adds.

■ Congress leads in Danilimda, reports NDTV. The party held the seat in 2012. BJP leads in Kheralu, it adds.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is leading from Rajkot West assembly seat, reports Tv9 Gujarati.

BJP leads in Jetpur, in Saurashtra, reports NDTV. The seat was held by the Congress in 2012.

■ BJP’s Pradipsinh Jadeja leads in Vatva, reports NDTV. BJP is leading in 44 seats, while the Congress is leading in 12, reports the channel at 8.27am.

BJP’s Jitu Vaghani of BJP is leading from Bhavnagar West, reports Tv9Gujarati.

■ Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AK Joti: “I assure you that there can be no tampering with the EVMs. Questions being raised about EVMs have already been answered by us in the media. VVPATs were there in every polling stations in Gujarat, which enabled voters to see whom they voted for, so issues being raised aren’t right. I assure that EVMS cannot be tampered with.” (ANI)

■ 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.

In the 2012 polls, the BJP had won 115 seats and the Congress 61 seats, while others and independents had bagged six seats. (PTI)

■ At 8.22am, NDTV reports BJP leading in 34 seats, while the Congress is ahead in 8 seats.

■ At 8.13am, NDTV reports BJP leads in 14 seats, while the Congress is ahead on 2 seats. BJP leads in Deesa North, Anjar in Saurashtra and Dahegam North, it adds.

■ Surat police commissioner Satish Kumar Sharma to ANI: “Tight security arrangements have been made, police personnel adequately stationed across the region.”

■ First lead: BJP leads in Anjar, Saurashtra, reports NDTV. The saffron party also eads in Dahegam, North, reports the channel.

■ Counting of votes begins for Gujarat assembly elections with ballot boxes brought in at the EC centre in Ahmedabad, reports ANI. Officials at counting centre set up in Ahmedabad’s Gujarat College open ballot boxes as counting of votes begins.

■ Gujarat’s chief electoral officer B.B. Swain said, “The counting of votes will begin at 8am with counting of postal ballots. The counting of votes cast their Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will commence at 8:30 am once postal ballots have been counted. Initial trends about the winners are likely to emerge within two hours of the counting, and a clear picture is expected by noon.”

The counting of votes will take place in 182 halls across the 37 counting centres. In each hall, there will be 14 tables for the counting.

“On each table, there will be once counting supervisor, one counting assistant, and one micro-observer. In addition, Election Commission has appointed one observer for each constituency,” he said.

As many as 10,000 counting staff and 8,000 support staff have been deployed for counting of votes. More than 25,000 security personnel will be on guard during counting of votes.

■ Supporters perform ‘Hawan’ outside Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s residence in Delhi ahead of counting of votes, set to begin shortly, reports ANI.

■ BJP office in Gandhinagar ahead of counting of votes for all 182 assembly seats in Gujarat elections.

■ Preparations on amid high security ahead of counting of votes at Surat. Counting of votes to start at 8am at 37 centres across the state’s 33 districts amid tight security.

■ 6.00 am: Counting of votes for Gujarat election results will begin at 8 am at 37 centres across the state’s 33 districts amid tight security.

■ Over 70% voter turnout in re-polling

More than 70% voter turnout was recorded in the re-polling held on Sunday at six polling booths in four constituencies of Gujarat, said officials. Following Election Commission’s directive, polling was held at two booths each in Vadgam and Savli constituencies and one each in Viramgam and Daskroi constituencies. While the Chhaniyana-1 and 2 booths of the Vadgam seat clocked a 74%and 73% voter turnout, respectively, booth number 27 in Viramgam recorded an 83% turnout, said Gujarat CEC B.B. Swain. Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani is contesting from the Vadgam (SC) seat as an Independent candidate supported by the Congress.

Earlier, Gujarat recorded an average 68.41% polling in the two-phase assembly elections, the Election Commission (EC) said on Friday.

■ EC withdraws notice to Rahul Gandhi over TV interviews

In a relief to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday night withdrew its order against him over a prima facie violation of model code of conduct (MCC) on the grounds that he gave television interviews one day before second phase of Gujarat elections.

Additionally, the EC formed a committee to examine the provisions of Section 126 of Representation of People’s Act, which deals with prohibition of public meetings, displaying or propagating election-related matter 48 hours ending with hour fixed for conclusion of the poll. Read more

■ EVM criticism due to fear of defeat: Nitish Kumar

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said that EVMs have helped making elections “transparent and impartial” and those criticizing them were doing so out of the fear of defeat. Kumar’s observation came a day before the counting of votes for Himachal and Gujarat elections, and in the backdrop of allegations of EVM tampering in Gujarat to favour the BJP.

“Some may criticize the EVMs out of fear of defeat, but the EVMs have made elections transparent and impartial. Now, nobody can deprive anybody of the right to cast votes,” Kumar, who has predicted a comfortable majority for the BJP in Gujarat, tweeted in Hindi. (PTI)