Gujarat election results: BJP registers landslide victory, wins 156 seats

The Bharatiya Janata Party BJP on Thursday returned to power in Prime Minister Narendra Modis home state Gujarat with a thumping majority The BJP won the highest number of seats in Gujarats history and recorded its seventh straight winAccording to the results declared by the Election Commission the BJP won 156 seats while the Congress party finished second winning 17 seats The Aam Aadmi Party AAP that made its debut with a highdecibel campaign won 5 seats Independents won three seats and the Samajwadi Party won one seatIncumbent Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel is set to take oath on December 12The Bharatiya Janata Party BJP said Bhupendra Patel would continue as the Chief Minister of the state and his oathtaking ceremony would take place on December 12 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would attend his swearingin ceremony BJPs state unit president C R Paatil said on Thursday while addressing a press conferenceBJP makes clean sweep in Kutch wins all 6 seats AAP dents CongressIn a break from the past the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP made a clean sweep in Kutch district bordering Pakistan by winning all the six Assembly constituencies in the region Kutch district has six Assembly constituencies Abdasa Bhuj Rapar all bordering Pakistan and Mandvi Anjar and Gandhidham The district has around 16 lakh votersAlso Read Support to BJP reflects anger against dynasty rule PM Modi to BJP workersIn Kutch district the BJP this time polled 516877 votes as compared to 433 503 in 2017 whereas the Congress bagged 323218 ballots down from 403520 five years agoIn 2017 the BJP won four seats Bhuj Mandvi Anjar and Gandhidham whereas two Assembly segments Abdasa and Rapar went to the Congress However the Congress MLA from Abdasa switched over to the BJP in 2020 and won the seat in a bypollNOTA votes down by over 9 pc in GujaratThe share of NOTA votes in the Gujarat Assembly elections fell by more than nine per cent from 2017 with the highest of 7331 such votes polled in the Khedbrahma seat this timeAccording to Election Commission data 501202 or 15 per cent votes polled this election in the state were NOTA down from 551594 in the 2017 assembly electionsThe highest number of 7331 NOTA votes were polled in the Khedbrahma seat followed by 5213 in Danta and 5093 in Chhota UdaipurThe Devgadhbaria seat saw 4821 NOTA votes Shehra 4708 Nizar 4465 Bardoli 4211 Daskroi 4189 Dharamppur 4189 Choryasi 4169 Sankheda 4143 Vadodara City 4022 and Kaprada 4020 among othersThe BJP bagged 156 seats in 182 member Gujarat Assembly It garnered a vote share of nearly 53 per cent which was the highest for the party in the western stateSeven BJP MLAs including minister taste defeat in GujaratDespite the ruling BJPs massive victory in Gujarat Assembly elections seven of its sitting MLAs including a state minister lost Kirtisinh Vaghela MLA from Kankrej seat in Banaskantha district and Minister of State for Primary Secondary and Adult Education lost to the Congress Amrutji Thakor the brother of Gujarat Congress president Jagdish ThakorBJP wins 40 of 48 seats in Saurashtra Congress musters just 3 down from 28 it won in 2017 pollsA region wise analysis of the Gujarat assembly results shows that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP swept Saurashtra region winning 40 of 48 seats regaining its hold over a region where the Congress held sway in 2017 polls bagging as many as 28 seatsThe Congress party managed to win just 3 seats a far cry from the 28 seats it won in the 2017 electionsThe Aam Aadmi Party AAP in its maiden Gujarat assembly elections managed to bag 4 seats one seat more than the Congress tally in the regionSamajwadi Party candidate Kandhal Jadeja won from KutiyanaBJP polled 4823 per cent votes in Saurashtra Congress got 26 per cent and AAP secured 20 per centIn 2017 elections Congress won 28 seats while BJP bagged 19 seats and NCP got one seatThe Congress secured more vote percentage than BJP in the 2017 elections at 4537 per cent while BJP then bagged 4490 per cent of votesThe region with a sizeable Patidar and Other Backward Class OBC population helped Congress limit the BJP to 99 seats in 2017 polls the saffron partys worst performance since 2002A look at BJPs ticket allocation in the region shows that it banked on Congress turncoat MLAs and fresh faces to attract votes observers saidOf the 20 Congress MLAs who had defected to the BJP after winning the 2017 elections half were from seats in SaurashtraCentral Gujarat The BJP swept central Gujarat by winning 56 out of the 61 seats in the region while Congress managed to retain only four seatsThe AAP remained mostly a noshow and was placed on the second spot on eight of these seatsThe BJP lost Vaghodia seat where it faced rebellion from fiveterm MLA Madhu Shrivastav who contested as an independent While Shrivastav came a distant fourth another independent candidate Dharmendra Vaghela defeated BJPs Ashvin PatelThe ruling party got a boost from urban hubs of Ahmedabad Vadodara Nadiad Umreth and Matar and also from many rural seats leaving the Congress with only five seatsIn 2017 polls BJP won 37 seats in the region while 22 went to the CongressNorth Gujarat Of the total 32 seats of north Gujarat region eight went to Congress 22 to BJP and two seats went to independent candidatesThese seats include nine of Banaskantha three of Sabarkantha four of Arvalli four of Patan seven of Mehsana and five Assembly seats of Gandhinagar districtIn 2017 BJP won 14 seats and Congress 17 seats in north GujaratIn that election Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani who contested as an independent with Congress support won from Vadagam SC seat of Banaskatha district This time he won from the same seat as a Congress candidateWhile the BJP improved its tally significantly this time Congress tally has come down from 17 to 8South Gujarat The BJP improved upon its 2017 tally in south Gujarat winning 33 out of the 35 seats in the region The Aam Aadmi Party followed bagging the second spot in 12 seatsCongress managed to win the Vansada reserved seat while AAP won Dediapada also a reserved seat in its debut fightTribal leader and seventime MLA Chhotu Vasava lost his Jhagadia seat to BJPs Ritesh Vasava while BJP clinched five reserved seats from CongressAAP failed to win in Surat not winning any of the 16 seats there BJP won all those seatsKutch BJP made a clean sweep in Kutch region winning all the six seats The Congress which carried out a silent campaign in rural areas failed to retain the two seats it won in 2017 electionsAam Aadmi Party failed to win any seat but caused enough damage to the Congress even leading to its defeat in stronghold RaparWith inputs from PTI