The BJP is set to form a government in the State by bagging 99 seats in the two-phase Assembly polls. However, it has got a reduced majority, with the Congress managing to get 77 seats.
This will be the sixth straight term for the BJP in the State. But the spirited campaign by Rahul Gandhi has not gone in vain.
The elections have catapulted young leaders in the State — Jignesh Mevani, Alpesh Thakor and Hardik Patel — from social activism to politics.
Over 2,000 candidates were in the fray for the 182 seats. Later, the Assembly will get one nominated member, making the total strength 183.
An average 68.41 per cent polling was recorded in the two-phase polls.
All data are from the Election Commission of India.
Updates:
99 and unbeaten - those are the final figures after several hours of counting in Gujarat. The incumbent BJP, one short of the 'psychological' century mark, retains Gujarat . They were ahead in the race for most part and the trends pointed to a victory. Yet, they were given a good fight by the Congress party, that finished with 77 seats.
So how did Gujarat manage to fight off anti-incumbency and retain their bastion of Gujarat having been in power for 22 years? The most obvious answer is their frontman, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but there was more to this than Modi. This piece should explain why Gujarat voted the way it did.
The BJP Parliamentary board has decided that Arun Jaitley and Saroj Pandey will go as observers to Gujarat. Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar will go to Himachal Pradesh.
27,185 - That's the victory margin for Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani over Congress' Dilipsinh Gohil in Bhavnagar West constituency.
Meanwhile, Congress' Alpesh Thakor has claimed the Radhanpur seat with a margin of 14,857 votes. He defeated the BJP's Lavingji Muljiji Solanki. The same seat went to the BJP in 2012.
BJP workers celebrate party's victory in Ahmedabad.
Mr. Thakor, an OBC leader, is new to politics. He rose to prominence after the Patidar agitation led by 24 year old Hardik Patel demanding OBC status and quota benefits for the Patidar community in the State. Mr. Thakor launched a counter agitation under the OBC, ST, SC Ekta Manch to safeguard the interests of those communities which are entitled to quotas in education and government jobs.
Gujarat Deputy CM Nitinbhai Patel wins his Mahesana assembly seat, defeating Jivabhai Ambalal Patel of the Congress by 7137 votes. Mr. Patel is also the cabinet minister for Health, Medical Education, Family Welfare, Road and Building, Capital Project.
Candidates with criminal cases have by and large been rejected by the people in the Gujarat and Himachal Assembly elections. But one of the most significant wins by a first-timer has been the Bharatiya Tribal Party’s Mahesh Vasava, a candidate with the most number of criminal cases against him among all the others who filed nominations.
Rahul Gandhi says he "accepts the verdict of the people" and thanks Congress workers for their efforts.
In Godhra, Congress's Parmar Rajendrasinh Balvantsinh is leading over BJP's C.K. Raulji's by 167 votes.
In Dangs, Congress has managed to hold on to its seat by 768 votes. Its incumbent Gangajibhai Gavit has won against BJP's Vijaybhai Patel. The two had sparred previously in the 2012 election where Mr. Gavit won by 2422 votes.
Low margins
In Dholka in Ahmedabad, BJP's Bhupendrasinh Manubha Chudasama won over Congress's Rathod Ashvinbhai Kamsubhai by a narrow margin of 327. This is a considerable low for the party which had won by 18,845 votes in 2012.
The reverse happens too. In Kaprada in Valsad, Congress's Harjibhai Chaudhari won by a meagre 170 votes over his BJP competitor. Interestingly, Mr. Chaudhari had won by 18,685 when he contested from the same seat in 2012.
Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, who stood as an independent candidate with the support of Congress has won from Vadgam with a margin of 19,696 votes.
MLAs with pending criminal cases
The new Gujarat Assembly too is poised to have its share of legislators with past criminal records. Leading the pack is BTP leader Maheshbhai Vasava with 24 criminal cases pending against him.
Congress's Kiritkumar Patel, who is leading in Patan has 12 such pending cases, while BJP’s Shailesbhai Kanaiyalal Mehta of Dabhoi has 11 cases.
Agitations to continue, says Hardik
"BJP won with money power." That was Patidar leader Hardik Patel's first reaction to the Gujarat poll results. The 24-year-old leader who had a pre-poll arrangement with Congress, claimed "In some Patidar-dominated areas where BJP won with thin margin, it’s because of EVMs."
Mr. Patel vowed to continue his agitation for securing reservation for economically backward Patidars.
How are the ministers doing?
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani won his Rajkot West seat, a seat formerly occupied by Narendra Modi, by a margin of over 25,000 votes. Nitinbhai Patel, the Deputy CM, and Finance and Urban Development Minister is leading in Mahesana, against Congress candidate Jivabhai Patel.
Tourism and Tribal Welfare Minister Ganpat Vasava has won from Mangrol (ST) beating the Congress candidate by over 40,000 votes.
Bhupendrasinh Chudasama of the BJP, and Revenue and Education Minister is leading in Dholka by a margin of just 300 votes.
Water Supply Minister Babubhai Bokhiriya has won in Porbandar against Congress' Arjun Modhvadiya by a margin of 2,000 votes.
Jayesh Radadiya, the Food and Civil Supplies Minister is leading in the Jetpur constituency, against Ravi Ambaliya of the Congress by a margin of over 25,000 votes.
Agriculture Minister Chiman Saparaiya has lost his seat in Jamjaodhpur to the Congress' Chirag Kalariya.
Atmaram Parmar, the Social Justice and Welfare Minister too lost his seat in Gadhada to Congress candidate Pravin Maru.
Chhotubhai Vasava, the founder of Bharatiya Tribal Party has won from Jhagadia constituency with a whopping margin of 48,948 votes. Mr. Vasava represented Jhagadia in the 2012-2017 term too, but as a JD(U) candidate.
Mr. Vasava's son, Mahesh Vasava, too won from Dediapada. The BTP has tied up with the Congress this time.
Through much of travel within Gujarat in the last two months there has been one refrain that has rung out, “Congress is fighting well but BJP will form the government,” writes Nistula Hebbar
Here is her analysis: Why Gujarat voted the way it did
Umreth — Another constituency where NOTA has played the spoilsport. The BJP's Govindbhai Parmer defeated his rival Congress candidate Kapilaben Chavada by 1,883 votes. The NOTA received 3710 votes here.
In Talaja, however, NOTA has helped Congress. Kanubhai Baraiya won with the margin of 1,779 and NOTA got 2918 votes.
Arjun Modhvadia, Sidhdharth Patel, Shaktisinh Gohil and Tushar Chaudhary — all veteran Congressmen have lost the elections.
Women candidates
A total of 122 women contested in this elections. That roughly translates as 7% of all candidates. Of the 10 women candidates BJP fielded, 9 are leading — in Limbayat, Choryasi, Akota, Vadodara, Gandhidham, Gondal, Bhavnagar East, Kalol and Bhuj.
Congress fielded 11 women candidates. Four of them leading in Vav, Unjha, Garbada and Rapar.
Assuming all them win polls, that would still be lesser than 2012. The present Gujarat Assembly has 13 women candidates in all.
Of the 32 constituencies in North Gujarat region, BJP is leading in 15 seats. Considered as a Congress stronghold, the party is leading in 17 seats including the one in Vadgam where it is silently supporting Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani. As of now, it looks like Congress has managed to chip into BJP's vote share in Radhanpur and Patan in Sabarkantha district and is leading in these seats which were won by BJP in the 2012 elections.
Congress has also managed to maintain their majority in Aravalli district where it is leading in all the three constituencies as they had in 2012. It is also leading in Gandhinagar Uttar, Vav, Unjha, Becharaji and, by a narrow margin, in Deodar.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel said the Congress would have “done better” in the Gujarat election if it had formed an alliance with his party.
For Gujarat elections, the Congress was seen trying to stitch a coalition with the NCP against the ruling BJP. However, it could not fructify.
Congress has retained Borsad and Dahad. Both constituencies have re-elected their incumbent MLAs Rajendersinh Parmar and Vajesinghbhai Panada respectively.
Shaikh Gyasuddin Habibuddeen has also been re-elected from Dariapur.
Junagadh has gone to Congress this time. Bhikhabhai Joshi has defeated sitting MLA Mahendrabhai Mashru.
BJP wins in Maninagar, again
Modi or not, voters in Maninagar appear to prefer BJP. To nobody's surprise, BJP's Suresh Patel won from Maninagar with a margin of 75,199 votes. Mr. Patel defeated Congress's Shwetaben Brahmbhatt to retain the seat, which he took over from Prime Minister Modi.
Mr. Modi had been a regular at Maninagar since 2002 till 2014 when he resigned following his elevation as the Prime Minister of the country.
BJP wins Dharampur, retains Nadiad
Vinubhai Desai gets another term to represent Nadiad, this time with a higher margin. In 2012, his victory margin was 6587, but in the current polls, he defeated Congress candidate Jitendra Patel by 20838 votes.
In Dharampur, BJP's Arvind Patel has won by 22246 votes over Congress's Ishvarbhai Patel, who had won in 2012 by 15298 votes.
In Umbergaon, BJP retained it's seat with a margin of 41690 votes. The incumbent Ramanlal Patkar defeated Congress's Ashokbhai Patel.
Celebrations in BJP camp in Gujarat
Celebrations broke out at the Gujarat BJP headquarters ‘Kamalam’ in Gandhinagar as soon as the trends suggested that the ruling party was poised for a victory, reports PTI .
“The Congress carried out negative politics and talked about caste. They said development has gone crazy, when in fact people in the opposition party had gone crazy. The people in Gujarat supported development over caste,” said a supporter of the ruling party.
Congress MP Sushmita Dev on Gujarat polling trends:
"I believe we have improved. Bottomline is narrative has changed. There was narrative Congress was not force to reckon with. That is not true anymore. We are formidable force to counter BJP."
Congress MP Raj Babbar says:
"We fought elections on the real ground issues unlike BJP who brought in Pakistan and communalism to fore. No one can comment on Election Commission. But the EC should not behave like a political party claiming victory for EVM."
In ST constituencies, Congress and BJP are equally preferred
Of the 26 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Gujarat, Congress is leading in 12 seats while BJP is leading in 11. Bharatiya Tribal Party, a Congress ally, is leading in two while Independent is leading in one.
Most of the seats have been retained by the party that won it in the 2012 Assembly election. However, in certain constituencies such as Santrampur, Jetpur, Chhota Udaipur, Sankheda, Sankheda, Dediapada, Jhagadiya, Nizar and Dharampur, there has been an anti-incumbency trend. In Kaprada, where the Congress had won with a majority of over 18,000 votes in 2012, the current Congress candidate is holding on to the lead with a meagre 70 votes.
In Mahudha, Congress's Indrajitsinh Parmar has won by a margin of 13,601 over BJP's Bharatsinh Raysingbhai Parmar. In 2012, Congress had won this seat with a similar margin.
While the BJP is leading in 105 seats, Congress is leading in another 69.
How are parties faring in reserved constituencies?
During the election campaign Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani asserted that the BJP would not win even a single SC constituency. But voters thought otherwise. Early trends show that the BJP is leading in majority of the seats reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.
In seven of the 13 reserved constituencies, BJP is leading with a solid majority, though it needs to be noted that most of these constituencies, with the exception of a few like Kadi, have sitting BJP MLAs.
Mr. Mevani, though is set to win from Vadgam.
In Maninagar, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had won with a margin of 86,373 votes during the 2012 elections, BJP's Suresh Patel is leading over the Congress candidate by 70,678 votes.
Maninagar has been a BJP bastion for over a decade — Mr. Modi had won from the seat consecutively thrice in 2002, 2007 and 2012 until he resigned from the seat after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
BJP retains Porbandar
The supporters of BJP celebrate party's victory in Ahmedabad.
The BJP has retained Porbandar, but with a lesser margin. Babubhai Bokhriya has won by a margin of 1,855 votes over his nearest rival Arjun Modhwadia of Congress. In 2012, Mr. Bokhiriya had won by a whopping margin of 17,146 votes. Incidentally, 3,433 votes were polled for NOTA in this constituency.
The rural-urban divide
As early trends from the Gujarat election appears, the rural-urban divide between the voters appear to be widening. Congress appears to be winning in the rural areas while BJP has the upper hand in the urban and semi-urban regions.
For instance, BJP is leading in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot while Congress is making gains in rural seats, especially in the Patidar-dominated Sourashtra region. Constituencies like Sanad, which the Congress had won in 2012 by good margins, have shifted to BJP in this election.
NOTA has a vote share too
While BJP is poised to win the State and Congress to claim solace in increasing its strength in the Assembly, the elections has one more winner — NOTA. The None of the Above option that enables a voter to say he/she doesn't wish to vote for any candidate contesting, has received over four lakh votes so far.
The vote share of NOTA stands at 1.9%, higher than that of parties such as BSP and NCP.
In constituencies such as Somnath, Naranpura, Gandhidham, the NOTA registered more votes than some registered parties.
Sixth consecutive win, says BJP
An upbeat BJP says 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“.
“We have set a record in the history of the BJP by winning six consecutive polls: four assembly and two general elections, says BJP vice president Shyam Jaju.
“Anti-incumbency is not working there. The prime minister’s popularity is intact. Amit Shah’s strategy has worked,” he added.
11.20 a.m.
Bharatiya Tribal Party, the new kid on the block
It appears that that BJP crossed the magic 92 mark, needed to form the government. The party is leading in 101 seats. Congress is leading in 74, and the Bharatiya Tribal Party in 2 constituencies.
The Bharatiya Tribal Party was floated by former JD(U) MLA Chhotubhai Vasava just days before the announcement of polls. The party has contested in 5 constituencies, after a seat-sharing deal with the Congress.
Mr. Vasava supported Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha elections much to the embarrassment of NDA ally, JD(U). He later quit the party after Sharad Yadav was expelled.
Trends at 11 am
| BJP | 99 |
| Congress | 72 |
| Others | 3 |
| Independent | 3 |
Source: ECI
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.
Danta, a constituency in north Gujarat, is seeing tough competition between the sitting Congress candidate Kharadi Kantibhai Kalabhai and the BJP candidate Kodarvi Maljibhai Narayanbhai — the former is leading by less than 300 votes.
The 2017 Assembly elections in Gujarat is grabbing eyeballs for multiple reasons. Besides being a mark of BJP's popularity in PM Modi's home State, political analysts consider it to be indicative of the upcoming 2019 elections.
We saw this during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections too. In 2014, BJP had used their now-famous slogan of "Sabka Vikas" (development for all) largely based on the so-called Gujarat model of development. Their success in the Gujarat Assembly election of 2012 too had played an important part in the parliamentary election that followed in less than two years.
Congress making in-roads
Early trends from Gujarat show that the Congress is gaining ground across the State and posing a closer fight than most exit polls predicted, especially in areas like Saurashtra and South Gujarat.
According to early trends, Hardik Patel may have succeeded in breaching BJP's loyal Patidar votebank for the Congress to gain ground in Saurashtra region that has 54 seats.
However, in the 24-year-old leader's hometown in Viramgam, the BJP candidate is leading by a few hundred votes. In Varacha Road seat of Surat, where the young Patidar leader had taken out a massive roadshow, BJP is leading by slim margin of 1000 votes.
First result
And the first result is out. Imran Khedawala of Congress won from Jamalpur-Khadia. He defeated rival Bhushan Ashok Bhatt who was seeking a re-election, by a margin of over 37,000 votes.
Saurashtra goes to Congress
The Patel-dominated Saurashtra region in Gujarat is said to be the ruling-BJP's weak link in the plan to win in 2017.
The region had voted in the first phase of the election and will send 48 legislators to the 182-member assembly. The region has been through the rough sea in the past when BJP leader and former CM Keshubhai Patel split from the party and floated his own Gujarat Parivarthan party in 2012.
With a mini-revolt brewing here against the BJP, the Congress had decided to focus on Saurashtra and Kutch, which together account for 54 of the 182 seats in the State Assembly.
As of trends available from the ECI website, the BJP is leading in 96 seats and the Congress in 63. The Bhartiya Tribal Party is leading in 3 seats, the NCP 1 and independents 3.
Gehlot praises Rahul
When asked about the outcome, former Rajasthan Chief Minister and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said, "come what may, we have done an magnificent campaign under Rahul Gandhi.
Modiji and Amitji couldn't reply even a single question raised by us. They didn't talk about development... They were just playing son-of-the-soil card, he said.
Trends at 10 am
An EVM strongroom is under vigil at Gujarat College in Ahmedabad on December 16, 2017.
| BJP | 83 |
| Congress | 62 |
| Others | 3 |
| Independent | 2 |
Source: ECI
Mevani leads in Vadgam
Dalit leader Jignesh Kumar Natvarlal Mevani is leading by over 100 votes. He is contesting the Assembly polls as an independent candidate from the reserved Vadgam constituency in North Gujarat. The Congress is supporting him. A lawyer and activist, Mr. Mevani rose to fame during the Una protests in August 2016. Since then, he has emerged as the face of anti-Hindutva politics in Gujarat.
Read his interview here
Another independent candidate, Mavjibhai Chatrabhai Patel from Tharad, is leading over BJP's incumbent Parbatbhai Savabhai Patel.
Patidar votes helped Congress?
Upbeat over the initial leads, Congress spokesman Manish Doshi has said: "We are sure of winning Gujarat." Congress has been out of power in the western State for over two decades.
As per the initial trends, Patidar impact is huge in Gujarat. In Patidar pockets, like Morbi, Tankara, Mehsana, Dhoraji, Patan, Unjha Congress is leading.
In the days leading to the election, Congress had wooed the Patidar party with promises of the much-contested special category quota to Patidars, stipend to unemployed youth, cheaper fuel and farm debt waiver in its manifesto.
For over 22 years, the Patel community had faithfully voted for the BJP, even when Patel strongman and former State Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel rebelled against the party and floated his own party, the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP).
Chief Minister Rupani trails behind Congress in Rajkot West
Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP leader Vijay Rupani is trailing behind Congress candidate Indranil Rajyaguru from Rajkot West, as per the initial trends, according to news agency PTI.
Rajyaguru secured 1,258 votes while Mr. Rupani got 491 votes after the end of first round of counting, as per election officials at the counting centre.
Congress giving a tough fight to BJP
Barely 10 minutes into the counting, the contest appears neck and neck. The BJP and Congress are leading in 17 constituencies each.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, both are trailing, according to information coming from the counting centres, reports Mahesh Langa. Mr. Rupani is trailing by 900 votes.
In Visavadar, where Keshubhai Patel of Gujarat Parivartan Party had won in 2012, Congress's Ribadiya is currently leading with a margin of 1,253 votes. In Palitana, Congress's incumbent Rathod Pravinbhai Jinabhai is trailing behind BJP's Baraiya Bhikhabhai Ravajibhai.
In Dhaboi, Siddarth Chimanbhai Patel, son of former Chief Minister of Gujarat Chimanbhai Patel, is trailing by 1581 to BJP.
BJP takes the initial lead
The BJP is leading in six out of nine constituencies at the moment.
According to initial trends, BJP is leading in Bhavnagar Rural, Nadiad, Bhavnagar East, Porbandar, Umbergaon and Umbergaon while Congress is leading in Mahudha, Mandvi and Talaja.
In Talaja, where BJP's Shyal Bhartiben Dirubhai won in 2014, Congress's Kanubhai Mathurambhai Baraiya is currently leading with 1865 margin.
Gujarat’s Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel is trailing in initial trend from Mehsana constituency, reports Mahesh Langa. Mehsana was the epicentre of the Patidar quota agitation.
Congress has fielded veteran Jivabhai Patel here.
Stock traders are keeping a close watch on Gujarat polls. Market is likely to soar with opening as BJP is comfortably ahead as per the initial trends, says Mahesh Langa.
Congress leading in Mandvi , BJP in Porbandar
Congress is leading in Mandvi (Constituency No. 157), Chaudhari Anandbhai Mohanbhai leads by 2013 votes. In 2012, the Congress won the seat by a margin of 24,394 votes. Congress is leading in Nadiad too.
The BJP has established a marginal lead in Porbandar and Bhavnagar East.
People at big led screen in Ahmedabad today.
Parties have arranged mobile television booths in several prominent roads. Gujarati channels are reporting BJP is leading in 69, while Congress in 45. But Election Commission is yet to officially announce the trends.
EVMs can't be tampered with: CEC
On the day of counting, Chief Election Commissioner A.K. Joti has reiterated that the electronic voting machines are safe and cannot be tampered with. In an interview to news gency ANI, Mr Joti said, the voters could check if their votes went to the candidate of their choice since the VVPAT was in place. The voters had no complaints, he claimed.
Counting of votes have begun at 37 locations across 33 districts. Postal ballots will be counted first, followed by Electronic Voting Machine. The VVPAT or voter verified paper audit trial is used this time.
The Supreme Court rejected an “11th hour” plea by Secretary, Gujarat Pradesh Congress, to direct the Election Commission of India to count and cross-verify at least 25% of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) paper trail with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) votes polled in the State Assembly elections. A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud refused to entertain the plea, saying that the judiciary cannot question the discretion of the Election Commission (EC) to restrict the exercise to just one random booth per constituency. “How can the court substitute the discretion of the Election Commission? And why have you put the margin at 25%? Why not 5% or 10% or even 30%? We cannot encroach into the Election Commission’s authority,” Justice Chandrachud orally observed.
Key contests
A look at key contests in Gujarat
Rajkot West: BJP's Vijay Rupani vs. Congress's Indranil Rajyaguru.
Mr. Rupani is the current chief minister of Gujarat, while Mr. Rajyaguru is the second richest candidate.
Vadgam: Jignesh Mevani vs. Vijay Chakravarti
Backed by the Congress, Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani is contesting as an independent candidate. Mr. Chakravarti is a known local face who joined BJP two years back.
Mehsana: Nitin Patel vs. Jivabhai Patel
Mehsana was the epicentre of the Patidar quota agitation. It's a no brainer why both the BJP and Congress have fielded Patel candidates. While BJP's Nitin Patel is the current Deputy Chief Minister, Congress has fielded a sitting parliamentarian and a party veteran.
Bhavnagar West: Jitu Vaghani vs. Dilipsinh Gohil
Mr. Vaghani is the Gujart BJP president, while Mr. Gohil is a former Congress MLA.
Porbandar: Babu Bokhiria vs. Arjun Modhvadia
Mr. Bokhiria is the Water Resources Minister and Mr. Modhwadia, a former GPCC president. They are fighting for the Porbandar seat once again.
Re-polling held at six booths
A woman leaves a booth after vote in Ahmedabad.
Re-polling was held at six polling booths in four Assembly constituencies, following an Election Commission directive. The polling was held at two booths each in Vadgam and Savli constituencies and one each in Viramgam and Daskroi. While the Chhaniyana 1 and 2 booths of the Vadgam seat clocked a 74% and 73% turnout, respectively, booth number 27 in Viramgam recorded 83%, Chief Electoral Officer B.B. Swain said.
Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani is contesting from the Vadgam (SC) seat as an Independent candidate supported by the Congress.
The Nava Naroda booth of the Daskroi seat registered a 73% turnout, while the Nhara and Sankrada booths in the Savli constituency registered 71% and 75% respectively.
The poll panel, however, did not specify the reason for the fresh polling at these six booths.
EC withdraws notice to Rahul
Last night, the Election Commission withdrew the show-cause notice to newly elected Congress president Rahul Gandhi in connection with his interviews to TV channels ahead of the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections on December 14.
Counting at 37 locations
“Counting of votes will be held at 37 locations across 33 districts in the State under elaborate security arrangements,” Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer B.B. Swain has said.
Following the exit poll results which predicted a majority for the BJP, several leaders in Gujarat from the Congress, Patidar leader Hardik Patel and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, raised the issue EVMs being hacked. Posting on Twitter, Mr. Patel on December 17 said, “If a human body, made by God, could be tampered with, then why not an EVM, which is made by humans?” He also alleged that there had been attempts to hack EVMs using its “source code” in the Patidar-dominated and tribal areas of the State.
Also read: All eyes on Gujarat
