Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ahead on 22 seats in Gujarat, while Congress is leading on three seats, according to the latest trends issued by the Election Commission of India.
The Congress is in alliance with the AAP in Gujarat, where it contested from 24 seats, while the AAP fielded candidates in Bhavnagar and Bharuch constituencies.
Twenty-five out of the total 26 seats in the State went to polls in the third phase of the ongoing general elections.
In Surat, BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal has already been declared unopposed. This decision came after the nomination of Congress’ Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected, and other candidates withdrew from the contest.
Around 642 million people voted in Lok Sabha elections held over seven phases in a mammoth six-week period. The counting of votes began starting with postal ballot papers amid tight security. The counting for State Legislative Assemblies of 175 Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 147 Assembly constituencies in Odisha of bypolls in 25 Assembly constituencies also began. The Lok Sabha elections for 543 seats of the lower house were held across seven phases.
Most exit polls predicted a straight term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with quite few of them projecting a two-thirds majority for the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The Congress party and its allies dismissed the exit polls as “orchestrated” and a work of “fantasy”, asserting that the opposition INDIA bloc will form the next government at the Centre.
Strict security has been put in place for the smooth conduct of counting of votes for over 8,000 candidates in this general election. (ANI)
