Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling group will sweep an election in Gujarat, surveys showed yesterday, shaking off the most serious challenge yet from a combined opposition.
The election for a new state assembly in Gujarat is seen as a litmus test for Modi ahead of a national election in 2019. Voting closed yesterday.
A win would help him dismiss critics who said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s support base was eroding after last year’s shock move to ban high-value currency notes in the fight against graft, and poor implementation of a national sales tax this year hit businesses.
The Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi and teaming up with regional politicians has run a tough campaign aiming to weaken Modi in his home base and rouse public discontent over lack of jobs and a softening economy.
But three separate television exit polls at the close of the final round of voting yesterday showed the BJP winning more than 100 seats in the 182-member state house, well clear of the half-way mark of 92 required to rule.
Congress, the main opposition party, will win 70-74 seats, the polls showed, better than in the past but not enough to oust the BJP from power.
Another exit poll, conducted by a Today’s Chanakya group, gave the BJP a two-thirds victory.
The actual votes will be counted on Monday and exit polls and other surveys have often gone wrong in India, where millions vote. The Congress party said it was too quick to call the election based on exit polls.
The BJP has ruled Gujarat since 1998, with Modi as its chief minister for more than a decade before he became prime minister three years ago.
Modi yesterday cast his ballot in Ahmedabad and then hit the streets again, showing off his inked finger as he walked, surrounded by hundreds of supporters.
Meanwhile, the Congress complained to the election commission that Modi had held a roadshow in Ranip area. The Congress accused the election commission of ignoring the BJP’s and Modi’s violations of the model code of conduct. Congress activists staged a demonstration outside the office of the poll panel in New Delhi.
There were several complaints regarding malfunctioning EVMs in and around Vadodara city, halting polling temporarily.
Earlier separate exit surveys released for state polls held in Himachal Pradesh showed Modi’s party emerging as a winner.


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