GANDHINAGAR, Dec 17: After a fierce campaign of the ruling BJP and the Congress party against each other, the votes for the Gujarat Assembly elections will be counted on Monday, amidst tight security around the strong rooms.
The counting will take place at 37 different places in the state. The security has been beefed up at all the strong rooms, where the EVMs and the VVPATs are kept.
The counting of votes will begin at 8 in the morning on Monday. The BJP and the Congress have asked their supporters and workers to maintain restrain in the wake of whatever outcome.
Among the heavyweights from the ruling dispensation, the electoral fate of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, BJP state President Jitu Vaghani and a score of ministers will be declared after the counting.
The Congress senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil, Arjun Modhwadiya, Sidhartha Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mewani are among the prominent contestants.
This election was seen as the closest in more than a decade in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, with the Congress allying with three young leaders from sizeable caste groups including 24-year-old Hardik Patel.
In an effort to woo voters, newly elected Congress President Rahul Gandhi tirelessly campaigned in the state since last three months and visited the temples almost 26 times. While the Prime Minister addressed as much as 34 rallies across the western state.
The election was held in two phases for 182-member house on December 9 and December 14. In the first phase of elections, the polling was conducted on 89 seats in the areas falling under Saurashtra and South Gujarat. The voting saw around 67 per cent turnout. (PTI)
Meanwhile, in the second phase the voting saw a marginal improvement and was recorded at 68.7 per cent in remaining 93 constituencies in North as well as Central Gujarat.
The turnout in 2012 was registered at 71.3 per cent. As far as all exit polls are to be believed, they all have predicted that the BJP, which has governed the state for 22 years in a row, will easily get another term.
A party needs 92 seats to form the government in Gujarat.
(UNI)
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