A paramilitary soldier guards a room where voting equipment are being kept, in Ahmedabad, yesterday.
Ahmedabad: Gujarat’s ruling BJP was supremely confident ahead of today’s vote count following elections which exit polls say will see Chief Minister Narendra Modi get another five-year term.
Gujarat recorded its highest voter turnout of 71.3 percent in the two-round elections to pick a new 182-seat assembly. The elections ended on Monday. BJP leader Jaynarayan Vyas asserted that the party would win the electoral battle with impressive margins.
“We will win on the basis of good governance, transparency and progress,” Vyas said.
He said if the BJP wins, it would be the first time in Gujarat’s history that a chief minister would have won three successive elections. Asked if Modi - who has been chief minister since 2001 - will have a national role if the party wins, Vyas said it was for Modi and the BJP to decide.
Although most exit polls have predicted a sweeping win for Modi, who is widely seen as a more powerful entity than the BJP in Gujarat, the Congress remains hopeful. “We have promised to address concerns of people about water, electricity and housing,” state Congress spokesman Amee Yajnik said.
The millions of votes polled in Gujarat will be counted across the state today from 8 am under heavy security. Though other BJP leaders also campaigned in the state, Modi remained the biggest crowd-puller. Pitted against him were Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also campaigned in the state. In Himachal, BJP and Congress are hopeful With counting of votes in Himachal Pradesh set for today, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress say they will easily win.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal of BJP is aiming to retain power while five-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh of Congress is fighting - to quote some of his admirers - a “battle of survival”.
“We will get a decisive lead this time. I am saying this after my 50 years in active politics,” state Congress chief Virbhadra Singh said. But a confident Dhumal asserts he will create history by repeating his tenure for a second consecutive term. If he manages, it will be the first time a ruling party will win assembly elections.
“The record voter turnout (November 4) is a clear indication of anti-incumbency... The anger is directed against the anti-people policies of the Congress-led UPA government,” Dhumal said.
Both Dhumal and Virbhadra Singh campaigned aggressively across the hill state.
“This probably might be the last election for Virbhadra Singh to re-establish his credentials as a charismatic leader,” a Congress leader said. This election’s focus is on Kangra district, the largest in the state with 15 seats. Kangra is now dominated by the BJP.
The Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), formed by BJP rebel and four-time former MP Maheshwar Singh, and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) are giving a tough fight to the Congress and BJP in four constituencies: Shimla, Kullu, Palampur and Jaswan Pragpur.
The HLP put up candidates in 36 of the 68 seats. A record number of 106 of the total 459 candidates were independents.
Political leaders said some BJP and Congress rebels could play spoilsport. The Congress rebels include legislator Yograj (Dehra), former minister Ishwar Dass (Ani) and Dharamvir Dhami (Manali). BJP legislator Roop Singh (Sundernagar) and former leaders Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur) and Sudha Sushant (Fatehpur), wife of MP Rajan Sushant, have contested as independents.
Nearly 75 percent of the 4.6 million electorate voted November 4. Officials said the state received only 2,800 postal ballots.
IANS
