Gujarat will stand by Modi, Cong tally to rise: Exit polls

“Given the under assessment of BJP in exit polls, we expect the victory to be bigger than what is projected in exit polls, all of which have predicted a victory for us in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh,” said BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao.

The Congress was sceptical about the predictions with party spokesperson Shobha Oza saying exit polls have proved wrong in elections before. “I don’t know how much you trust the exit polls…definitely we are winning in Gujarat,” she said.

Campaigning was especially fierce in Gujarat, where development issues gave way to personal attacks in the closing days of the election.

The Congress had hoped to ride on the support of the Patidar community, who are seemingly angry with the BJP over denial of quotas, and discontent among some sections over the Goods and Services Tax.

Patidar leader Hardik Patel, along with Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader Alpesh Thakor and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, had hoped to hurt the BJP.

But exit polls suggested the troika might not have had a big impact and may only help improve the Congress tally marginally.

In Himachal Pradesh, where ageing six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh was battling anti-incumbency, his principal challenger and BJP’S chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal was projected to have won big across all regions of the state.

THE CONGRESS HAD HOPED TO RIDE ON THE SUPPORT OF THE PATIDAR COMMUNITY. THE PARTY WAS SCEPTICAL ABOUT THE PREDICTIONS, WITH PARTY SPOKESPERSON SHOBHA OZA SAID EXIT POLLS HAVE PROVED IN THE PAST.