Tsu-NaMo Paints Gujarat Saffron, Congress Claws Back in Himachal Pradesh | News18 Poll Highlights

Himachal Pradesh’s razor-thin lead against the BJP gives way to anxiety, on the other hand, BJP workers dance and rejoice while eyeing a big win in the Gujarat assembly polls.

As leads keep coming in, here’s a look at the highlights pertaining to the ongoing election trends.

• BJP is likely to sweep the Gujarat elections after maintaining a massive lead over the Congress. The BJP is eyeing a seventh straight term in Gujarat which also happens to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, while the Congress hopes to remain the main Opposition party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead his party’s celebrations this evening at its Delhi headquarters at 6 pm. The BJP appears to have rung up its best-ever result in Gujarat with the PM holding around 31 rallies in the final few weeks of BJP’s campaign.

• In a neck-and-neck contest in Himachal Pradesh, with both BJP and Congress trying to find a headway, the focus this time is on some of the key candidates, who have decided to contest as independents. These include Hiteshwar Singh, Kirpal Singh Parmar, Gangu Ram Musafir, and Dayal Pyari, KL Thakur, and Indu Verma.

• Fireworks are being lit in celebration at the Congress office after the party saw a lead against the BJP in Himachal Pradesh. As leads keep coming in for the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, the Congress has decided to move its winning MLAs to ‘safer’ locations to subvert poaching attempts. CNN-News18 has learned that the Grand Old Party, which is looking to make a comeback in the hill state as well as stop the BJP juggernaut on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home turf, is likely to move its winning Himachal MLAs to a hotel in Jaipur by 8 pm on Thursday, a move that will be confirmed by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at the earliest.

• The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP manages to gain a foothold in Gujarat. As per trends, the party has managed to create inroads, splitting into the Congress support base even as it trails behind the BJP, which seems to be set for a massive win.

• Jai Ram Thakur will be in line to make history if BJP wins assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh as till now no party has won two consecutive Assembly elections in Himachal since 1985. Power has always alternated between the BJP and Congress.

• BJP’s Titeshbhai Vasava is leading in Gujarat’s Jhagadia constituency while the Bharatiya Tribal Party’s founder Chhotubhai Vasava is trailing behind. Meanwhile, in what can be touted as a tribal sweep, BJP has made new inroads into the tribal belt leading on 21 of the 27 seats.

• As the Gujarat election results indicate a setback for Congress in the state, the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Jagdish Thakor at state headquarters in Ahmedabad, Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan said the results are “shocking”. “The decision of Gujarat people to make BJP government and the way results are pouring in looks like they were no shortcomings of ours but despite that these results are shocking,” Thakor said.

Read all the Latest Politics News here