All eyes on Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh today; Congress confident of winning
New Delhi: The stage is set for the crucial Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh election verdict as counting of votes begins on Monday morning amid tight security.
Even though most exit polls favour the BJP in both states, the Congress is confident of ending the BJP’s 22-year rule in Gujarat and breaking the trend in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh where each Assembly election sees the Opposition coming to power.
Poll pundits feel that the verdict will also set the tone for the big electoral battle of 2019 as these Assembly elections are seen as a test between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s magic and new Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's leadership.
Mr Gandhi, who assumed charge as Congress president on Saturday, campaigned for almost two months in Gujarat and gave the BJP its toughest fight in Mr Modi’s home state.
Counting of votes for 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat and 68 seats in Himachal will begin at 8 am and clear trends are likely to emerge by noon.
Papertrail to be used for first time
These are the first Assembly elections in both states with 100 per cent VVPAT or paper trail coverage. VVPAT machines from one polling booth in each of the constituencies will be tallied with EVM results.
On Sunday, more than 70 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the re-polling held at six polling booths in four Assembly constituencies of Gujarat, said officials.
In Gujarat, counting of votes will be held at 37 centres across the state’s 33 districts amid tight security. The poll campaign saw the BJP focus on issues like Mr Gandhi’s temple visits, the alleged Pakistani interference in the polls and suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s controversial remarks against the PM. The Congress questioned the ruling party’s development model as Mr Gandhi attacked Mr Modi and the BJP for “not talking about the future of Gujarat” and skipping key problems faced by people.
On the eve of the counting, Congress general secretary in charge of Gujarat Ashok Gehlot said, “We are confident of victory in Gujarat. The manner in which Rahul Gandhi spearheaded the campaign and used issue-based politics, he put the BJP on the mat forcing them to resort to non-issues for public sympathy,” The election saw the Congress stitching a broad social coalition with prominent Patidar, OBC, and dalit leaders — Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jigesh Mevani — in its bid to unseat the BJP after over two decades. A day before the verdict, Mr Patel also accused the BJP of trying to use engineers to hack into the EVMs.
The two main rival parties also tried to counter each other on social media, as the Congress and its supporters launched the campaign Vikas Gando Thayo Chhe (development has gone crazy), while the BJP launched a counter drive of “I am development, I am Gujarat”.
The total voter turnout this time saw a dip of 2.91 per cent, as compared to the 2012 polls when 71.32 per cent polling was registered. In terms of numbers, of the total 4.35 crore voters, 2.97 crore exercised their right to franchise in the polls held on December 9 and 14.
In Himachal Pradesh, where counting of votes will take place at 42 centres, chief minister Virbhadra Singh of the Congress sounded confident that his party will achieve the target of “Mission Repeat” and the “tall claims made by the BJP would be proved wrong”.
