Gujarat election results: PM Modi flashes victory sign as he arrives at parliament. (PTI)
Highlights
- PM Modi flashes victory sign before entering parliament
- BJP wins in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh
- PM Modi led a high-voltage campaign in Gujarat to score victory for BJP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flashed a V sign for victory and a big smile as he walked into parliament this morning as his party, the BJP, looked set to win the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh election.
The BJP is set to win a fifth consecutive term in Gujarat.
The party had a scare in PM Modi's home state, where the fight turned out to be tougher than expected by its leaders and predicted by pollsters. But three hours later, chants of "Modi, Modi" rose up at the BJP's headquarters and offices and celebrations broke out.
PM Modi led a high-voltage campaign to score another victory for the BJP, which has ruled Gujarat for two decades. In rally after rally, he stressed on Gujarati pride and targeted the Congress.
The BJP's victory against all odds, including anti-incumbency and public anger over measures like demonetization and GST or Goods and Services Tax, is seen as reinforcement of the Prime Minister's unmatched winnability in elections.
Around 11 am, shortly after the Prime Minister's arrival in parliament for the winter session, leads for all of Gujarat's 182 assembly seats showed a BJP victory, but with a lower margin than in 2012.
In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP was racing towards an emphatic win to snatch another state from the Congress.