Gujarat Elections 2017
First phase: 68 percent polling was recorded on December 9 in the first phase of polls in 89 Assembly seats in Gujarat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi are locked in a bitter, high-stakes political battle after a 22-year BJP reign.
The election in Modi's home state is crucial for the Congress and the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and is seen as a prestige battle for the prime minister, who was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014, and a litmus test for the opposition party's heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi.
In the 2012 Gujarat Assembly polls, the BJP had won 115 seats, while the Congress had bagged 61.
Second phase:
Voting in second phase of Gujarat assembly elections concluded on Thursday.
Voting was held in 93 assembly constituencies across 14 districts in northern and central regions. There are 851 candidates in the fray. Elections were held in Banaskantha, Patan, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Aravalli, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Chhota Udepur districts in the northern and central regions.
The influential Patidar community, which accounts for around 12 per cent of the state's population, could prove to be the 'X factor' in the polls. Patidar quota warrior Hardik Patel has pledged support to the Congress and appealed to the people to "uproot the BJP" this time.
Himachal Pradesh Elections 2017
Himachal Pradesh on November 9 recorded a voter turnout of 74 percent, highest ever in the state where the BJP is seeking to dislodge the Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government on the issue of corruption while deflecting attacks by rivals on demonetisation and GST. It has a total of 50,25,941 voters.
The total number of Assembly Constituencies in the Himachal Pradesh and seats
reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes are:
- Total number of Assembly constituencies 68
- Reserved for SCs 17
- Reserved for STs 3
A total of 337 candidates, 19 of them women, are in the fray. There are 112 Independent candidates. The main contest is between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Congress has projected incumbent Virbhadra Singh, 83, as its Chief Ministerial candidate, while former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, 73, is the BJP’s. Both are contesting the elections.
As many as 7,525 polling booths were set up and 37,605 personnel deputed for poll duty in the state.
The ruling Congress and the BJP, led by Dhumal, contested all 68 seats. The BSP fought for 42 seats, the CPI(M) 14, Swabhiman Party and Lok Gathbandhan Party six each and the CPI three. There are also 112 independents in the fray.