Gujarat Election Results 2022 Live Updates: Counting of votes for 182 seats to begin at 8am

The Congress party may have its eyes firmly set on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, but it kept its fingers crossed as it waited for Thursday's counting of votes for the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The grand old party, which has been struggling to protect its fast-decimating electoral base, would be more than happy if it wins Himachal Pradesh and remains the main opposition in Gujarat where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is seeking to emerge as a challenger to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

All eyes will be on the Aam Aadmi Party when the counting of votes polled in the Gujarat Assembly elections begins on Thursday as the outcome will determine the fate of the Arvind Kejriwal led party's national ambition. Aiming to breach the BJP's Gujarat bastion, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded its candidate to contest all 182 assembly seats and carried out a high decibel campaign in the run-up to the polls in Gujarat.

On Thursday, people will get election results by the minute on their cellphones. But a little over 40 years ago, hundreds of people would flock to the Times Of India building on Ashram Road early afternoon and wait patiently, sometimes even past midnight, as the staff updated the counting results on a massive blackboard erected on a stage near the entrance.

The overall voter turnout in the 10 assembly seats of Vadodara city and district has gone down by 7% compared to the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections. At 65.83%, voter turnout was the lowest among all polls held in the last decade. But amid the dismal show, a few polling booths that didn’t fare well in 2017 assembly polls, however, witnessed a significant rise in voter turnout this year.

Local police will be deployed outside the counting centre campus. There will be a tight presence of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) at the counting location and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) outside the counting centre gates. No person or vehicle will be allowed to enter the complex except for officials on duty and specially authorized political representatives.

Gujarat chief electoral officer P Bharathi said that 182 counting observers, 182 election officers and 494 assistant election officers will be on duty for the counting process. There will be an additional 78 Assistant Election Officers for the counting of votes. In addition, 71 additional Assistant Election Officers have been assigned responsibility for the electronically transmitted postal ballot system.

Assembly elections in Gujarat were held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The approximate voter turnout by the end of the second phase of the Gujarat elections was recorded at 59.11 per cent.

Urban voters’ apathy was largely blamed for the over 4% dip registered in Gujarat assembly overall polling percentage this time. But surprisingly, the tribal belt bucked all expectations to register the highest voter turnout figures. In fact, Dediapada constituency in Narmada, reserved for tribal candidates, saw the highest voter turnout of 82.71% among all the seats in the state.

Your ruling on parties’ poll promises will be delivered today. It is the moment of truth for all the principal players in the Gujarat election, with the BJP looking for a fairytale beginning to a new tenure after being in power for 27 years. The Congress will hope to break out of political wilderness, while the AAP will look for a foothold in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

As the BJP battled anti-incumbency sentiments after 27 years of rule in Gujarat, Prime Minister Modi was the party's trump card and the ruling party banked on 'Brand Modi' in a bid to contain the anti-incumbency factor.

Exit polls have predicted a big majority BJP in Gujarat and if these projections are any indication the saffron party is all set to retain power in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the seventh consecutive term and equal Left Front's feat in West Bengal. The CPI(M)-led Front ruled the eastern state for 34 years from 1977 to 2011.

The counting process will commence at 8am with postal ballots to be taken up first.

The BJP is eyeing a record seventh straight term in Gujarat as the stage is set for counting of votes on Thursday for the Assembly elections in the two states.