Assembly Election Results 2022: BJP Eyes New Records, Congress Keeps Fingers Crossed As Counting Of Votes Begins For Gujarat, Himachal

The counting of votes for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections began on Thursday (8 December).

Initial trends after the counting begins will be based on the postal ballots.

The exit polls have predicted that BJP, the ruling party in both the states, will retain Gujarat. However, Himachal is expected to be a close fight between BJP and Congress, as per the pollsters.

Victory in Gujarat will make BJP the only party other than the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to have won seven straight Assembly elections. The CPI(M), which ruled West Bengal for 34 years from 1977 to 2011, had also won seven straight elections.

On the other hand, no party has won a back-to-back election in Himachal Pradesh after 1985. If the BJP manages to retain power in the hill state, that would be another record.

Meanwhile, Congerss, which has been struggling to protect its fast-decimating electoral base, would be more than happy if it wins Himachal Pradesh and remains the main opposition in Gujarat where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is seeking to emerge as a challenger to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).