India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed a victory sign as he arrived at the Indian Parliament in New Delhi on Monday as the initial election trends of two states – Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh indicated BJP coming to power.
After a high-pitched and bitterly-fought election campaign by the BJP and Congress in Gujarat, the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) was leading in 105 seats out of 182 seat assembly in Gujarat at 5pm AEDT, while the Congress was ahead in 69 seats, according to election authorities.
Gujarat’s Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, after an initial scare, won the Rajkot West seat while his Deputy, Nitin Patel was leading in Mehsana.
BJP has governed Gujarat for 22 years. PM Modi was thrice Chief Minister of Gujarat before he fought the general elections and became the Prime Minister.
In Himachal Pradesh, the electorate seemed to have ‘swung’ again, bringing the BJP back to power and sending the Congress in opposition. The BJP was leading in 40 seats and the Congress in 22 seats.
Official results are yet to be declared by the Election Commission. You can watch the results live here.
