Gujarat and HP Election Results 2022: BJP eyeing new records, Cong, AAP keep fingers crossed

The BJP is eyeing a record seventh straight term in Gujarat and also hoping to buck the anti-incumbency trend in Himachal Pradesh.

New Delhi, Dec 07: Counting of votes to hish-stakes battle in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and Bye-election to six Assembly Constituencies, one each in Odisha, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and two in Uttar Pradesh and one Parliamentary Constituency of Uttar Pradesh will take place from 8 am onwards on Thursday.

The BJP is eyeing a record seventh straight term in Gujarat and also hoping to buck the anti-incumbency trend in Himachal Pradesh witnessed for nearly four decades as the stage is set for counting of votes on Thursday for the Assembly elections in the two states.

Exit polls have predicted a big majority for the Bharatiya Janata Party(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.

In Himachal Pradesh, it could be the Congress' turn to form the next government if one went by the state's "riwaaj(tradition) and long history of voting out the incumbent government. But with all but two exit polls predicting an edge for the ruling BJP it remains to be seen which way the voters have decided in the closely fought elections.

The hill state has not returned any incumbent government to power after 1985, a trend the ruling BJP, powered by Prime Minister Modi's personalised campaign, hopes to break.

Most of the pollsters for Himachal Pradesh which has been a swing state where both the Congress and the BJP have come to power, taking turns for the last 40 years has entrusted saffron party to lead it for the next five years, bucking a well-established trend.

Both the BJP and Congress camps are learnt to have been in touch with independent candidates who might play a key role in the event of a close contest, predicted in several exit polls, with a slender edge to the BJP.

with PTI inputs