THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA.COM
The Bharatiya Janata Party won the Gujarat assembly elections for a record sixth straight time on Monday ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Results have been declared in 177 constituencies, with the BJP winning 97 of them.

The Gujarat results turned out to be a seesaw, with the BJP and Congress running neck-and-neck in early trends. Around midday, the BJP pulled ahead, and by 6.30pm, it had won 95 seats and was leading in four. The majority mark in the 182-member assembly is 92.

The Congress won 75 seats and was leading in two for a possible total of 77, compared to 61 in the 2012 elections.

The win was not as big as the BJP expected. Party leaders had aimed for 150-plus seats, but faced a tough challenge from a resurgent Congress led by Rahul Gandhi, as well as young Patidar and Dalit leaders Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mewani.

Also in Himachal Pradesh Bjp remained victorious by winning 44 seats and congress got only 21 seats.