Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani rejected the charge that PM Modi had violated code of conduct
The BJP's performance in the Gujarat elections, whose clear win has been predicted by exit polls, would exceed these forecasts and win 150 seats, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani suggested on Thursday at the end of polling.
A poll of exit polls, an aggregate of nine exit polls conducted in Gujarat, have predicted a clear majority for the BJP with 116 seats in the 182-seat assembly. The party needs 92 seats to form the government. The Congress, according to this poll of exit polls, is expected to win around 65 seats, a slight improvement over its 2012 tally when it won 61 seats.
The assertion of Mr Rupani, who spoke before most exit polls had been announced, indicated that the exit polls had underestimated the BJP's performance.
"We will get more than 150 seats... That was our target," Mr Rupani said at a Press conference, confident that a slight drop in the percentage of people who voted in the 2017 elections as compared to the 2012 elections would not adversely impact the BJP's performance.
The Election Commission,
which announced 68.9 per cent registered voters had turned up in the second phase of polling, has been criticized by the Congress for acting against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for code of conduct violations but not Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress had, through the day, alleged that PM Modi's short walk near the polling station after voting amounted to a "roadshow" to influence voters.
The Election Commission says it is looking into the complaints filed by the Congress.
"This is not violation of the code of conduct," M Rupani said, adding that Congress was unnecessarily trying to make an issue. "There was no victory sign, no lotus... nothing about voting for BJP".