Gujarat live: Counting of votes for 182 seats to begin at 8am

The BJP is eyeing a record seventh straight term in Gujarat as the stage is set for counting of votes on Thursday for the Assembly elections in the two states. The counting of votes for Gujarat assembly elections will commence at 8am with postal ballots to be taken up first. Exit polls have predicted a big majority for the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) in Gujarat and if these projections are any indication the saffron party is all set to retain power in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah for the seventh consecutive term. The BJP, which won 99 seats in the 2017 polls, is projected to win in the range of 117-151 seats in a House of 182 and the Congress between 16 and 51 seats. It is also upbeat about the possibility of the AAP eating into Congress votes, which could be additionally beneficial for the saffron party. The best showing for the BJP in Gujarat came in 2002 when the party had won 127 seats in the 182-member state assembly. The poll outcome will determine if the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) gets a chance to establish itself as a pan-national party and a challenger to the BJP at the national level also. For the Congress, its role as the main challenger to the BJP is at stake and Thursday's results will show if the party's ‘silent campaign' has cut ice with people. Top leaders of the party, which was projected to bag between 16 and 51 seats, were busy with Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Congress bagged 77 seats in 2017. Stay with TOI for all updates

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