Modi juggernaut crushes BJP rebels, Congress

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New Delhi: The BJP is poised to register a resounding victory in the Gujarat Assembly elections on Sunday and Narendra Modi is all set to return to power as the Chief Minister for the third time, with the trends showing the ruling BJP was ahead in 117 out of 182 constituencies.

Defying anti-incumbency factor and a strong challenge from his enemies within the party and the Congress, the flamboyant Modi single-handedly managed to take the BJP to power for a consecutive third term in the state.

While the BJP appeared to have done well all over the state, the Modi 'mantra' did magic specially in North Gujarat and Saurashtra where the party proved wrong all predictions of pollsters who had predicted a setback for the saffron party as the the powerful Patel lobby and farmers had turned against Modi.

The big gains in these regions helped BJP make up for the losses in Central and South Gujarat where the Congress appeared to have made significant gains.

Trends available at 1100 hrs from the counting of votes showed the Congress taking leads only in 61 while 'others' were ahead in four.

According to party sources, Modi is going to be sworn in as CM for a third term on December 27. The Congress conceded defeat with party spokesperson, Abhishek Singhvi, congratulating Modi for a 'remarkable and great' victory. "I don't grudge him the victory," he said.

What the Exit Polls Predicted

The Congress, however, maintained that Modi's victory does not remove the blot or invalidate all that happened during the post-Godhra riots under his Chief Ministership.

In the 182-member Assembly, the BJP needs to touch the 92-mark to form its government for the fourth time. In the outgoing Assembly, the BJP had a strength of 127 while the Congress had 51 seats.

In the last elections, BJP had won 127 seats while Congress had 51. Even before results were officially out, BJP workers kicked off celebrations at the party's office in Ahmedabad bursting crackers.

As the counting progressed, Modi sent SMSes claiming he was the "CM and will be CM forever". He clarified that 'CM' for him meant 'Common Man'. The saffron party was seen to be sweeping Modi's bastion North Gujarat and Saurashtra, brushing aside dissidence, while losing ground in riot-hit Central Gujarat where the party had scored landslide victories in the previous elections.

Election History: Saurashtra

Modi enjoyed a comfortable in Maninagar constituency where Union Minister Dinsha Patel is his main rival. Modi's close associate and Education minister Anandiben Patel was declared winner in Patan while Home Minister Amit Shah was ahead in Sarkej.

BJP Spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad described the victory as "a win of the entire BJP of which Modi is the Man of the Match. We are proud of his performance."

Election History: South Gujarat

The elections were seen as significant as the outcome may alter the political equations at the national level at a time when speculation is already rife about the possibility of an early Lok Sabha poll due to the Left parties' threat to withdraw support to the UPA Government if it went ahead with operationalising the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Among other parties, Congress' ally NCP was ahead in one constituency while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had gained lead in one seat. Independents were leading in three seats.

The vote count began at 8 AM on Sunday morning in 41 counting centres at 37 places in the state, at least one each at all districts headquarter.

The main contest was between the BJP and the Congress. A total of 1,268 candidates were in the fray in the state, which went to the polls in two phases.

Election History: North Gujarat

In the first phase, polling was held in 87 constituencies on December 11 while 95 contituencies went to the polls on December 16. Nearly 60 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in both phases.

While the BJP has contested all the 182 seats, the Congress is fighting from 172 seats, leaving the rest to its allies. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) contested 166 seats. Over 50 BJP rebel candidates are contesting the polls.

The Election Commission has directed all district election officers, returning officers and observers in Gujarat to ensure 'fool-proof' security at the counting venues and not allow any unauthorised person to enter the premises.

Special precaution has been taken by the administration to ensure that no untoward incident took place during post-victory celebrations by winning candidates.

(With PTI inputs)