Showing posts with label GUJARATH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GUJARATH. Show all posts

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Bomb hoax at Vadodara Stock Exchange

The Vadodara Stock Exchange was evacuated on Thursday afternoon after a letter threatening a bomb blast was sent to a local newspaper office.

Gujarati newspaper Sandesh got the threat call, in form of a letter that came by post.

The letter was delivered at the stock exchange via post and said a bomb has been placed inside the Stock Exchange. It also made a reference to SIMI but it’s not clear what the context was.

This was the second bomb threat the city has received in three days. On Tuesday, the Maharaja Sayajirao University was evacuated following a bomb threat, which proved to be a hoax.

Intelligence agencies believe that the plot to carry out the Ahmedabad blasts was hatched by SIMI operatives in Vadodara.

Newspapers with Vadodara dateline were used to wrap the bombs that were found in Surat.

Moreover, number plates on the cars used in the blasts were of two wheelers bearing Vadodara registration numbers.

The terrorists who bombed Ahmedabad had also purportedly stopped at Vadodara for sometime when they drove down from Navi Mumbai.


Couresty:ibnlive.com
Complete artical HERE

Saturday, June 14, 2008

World Gujarati Conference in the US in August

A World Gujarati Conference will be held in the US in August to provide opportunity to the people from the state settled abroad to network and discuss issues of mutual interest.

The organisers, Association of Indian Americans in North America (AAINA), said its mission includes bringing together Gujaratis from across the world, make them feel proud of their roots and introduce young Gujaratis to their rich cultural and progressive heritage.

Several prominent Gujaratis, who have excelled in various fields, are expected to attend the conference and share their experience.

Besides, industrialists, businessmen, professionals and politicians, personalities from Indian television and film industry and religious leaders are on the list of participants in the three-day meet -- "Chaalo Gujarat".

Courtesy:hindustantimes.com
Complete artical HERE

Monday, January 7, 2008

Economic prosperity of Gujarat will have human touch: Modi

Outlining his government's plans for the next five years, Chief minister Narendra Modi on Mondaysaid his government will give a "human touch" while ensuring the economic prosperity of Gujarat.

"In the next five years, we will make sincere efforts to bring Gujarat's human development index at par with those of the developed countries," Modi told reporters at his residence here.

Thanking the people of Gujarat for the victory in the recent assembly elections, Modi said, "the state government is dedicated for the economic prosperity of Gujarat. This prosperity will also have a human touch".

"We are keen to give a new dimension to socio-economic change," Modi said. "We will ensure all-round and all-inclusive development", he added.

The chief minister said the government will be celebrating the year 2008-09 as "Nirogi Balak" (healthy child) year.

Modi said the Planning Commission in the Eleventh Five Year Plan has kept a challenging task for Gujarat, that is to achieve a growth rate of 11.2 per cent.

Courtesy:thehindu.com
Complete artical HERE

Thursday, December 27, 2007

BJP has decided to bring Modi back to the Parliamentary Board,

: Fresh from his landslide victory in Gujarat, Narendra Modi's stock within the BJP seems to be rising and he is headed for bigger things in Delhi. CNN-IBN has learnt that BJP has decided to bring him back to the Parliamentary Board, the highest decision-making body of the party.

Modi had been removed from this panel early this year. Now it's difficult for the party to keep him away, given his immense popularity among the people of Gujarat and different parts of the country.

There is an overwhelming view within the party now that considering Modi's rising popularity, he should be used effectively in the party's election management.

BJP has realised Modi's 'star value' and his immense potential as a powerful political orator and strategist when it comes to election managements. With several Assembly elections slated for 2008, Modi is expected to play a key role in strategising and campaigning for the party.

There is, however, still strong resistance within the party against Modi as many party leaders feel that extreme voices like Modi have no place in a coalition era. But after his resounding victory in the Gujarat elections, Modi is now too powerful to be ignored.

All this while, BJP President Rajnath Singh had carefully kept Modi out of the Parliamentary Board along with Arun Jaitly. When he took the decision to drop him from the powerful panel earlier this year, Rajnath had put the onus on the RSS, saying this was a decision which had 70 per cent approval of the Sangh.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
Complete artical HERE

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Tough time ahead for Gujarat rebels

With the spectacular victory of Narendra Modi, it will be a double whammy for the BJP rebels in Gujarat for whom tough times are ahead.

This had become clear even before the results were out as the central leadership slapped show cause notices on sulking leader Keshubhai Patel and Kashiram Rana besides suspending two of its Lok Sabha MPs.

Only one out of the seven sitting BJP MLAs, who had crossed over to the Congress, managed to win the elections. The rebels were not able to swing Patel or Koli votes to the Congress in any substantial manner as they had claimed earlier.

Bauku Unghad was the only candidate to win from Babra while his other associates Bechar Bhadani, Dhiru Gajera, Balu Tanti, Narendrasinh Jadeja, Gopal Bhuva and Ramila Bara lostthe elections.

In Saurashtra and Kutch, which is the home turf of Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta, the BJP managed to increase its tally to 43 seats out of the total 58 seats in the regions. Last time the BJP had won 39 seats from the area.

The central leadership is now in no mood to take things lying down and party sources said that if necessary it will crack the whip to firmly ensure that discipline is maintained.

''We have given them a long rope. If there is no effort to correct themselves despite that, then we can't remain a silent spectator,'' a senior leader ominously remarked.

The dissidents had left no stone unturned to create obstacles for the return of Modi as they felt that yet another term for him will spell doom for them.

Sources said the party will give a stern message to the rebels to either fall in line or face the music in the wake of the fresh mandate.

The Chief Minister is also not known to be taking dissidence lightly and even before the polls he was virtually calling the shots in the state party affairs.

Now the spectacular victory has made Modi more powerful and hence is expected to nip dissidence with an iron hand and the central leadership too would also toe his line.

Courtesy:ndtv.com
Complete artical HERE

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Narendra Modi sworn in Gujarat Chief Minister for third time

It's time for Narendra Modi's crowning glory after his landslide victory in the Assembly elections.

Two days after Modi led the BJP to a resounding victory in the polls winning 117 of the 182 seats, the two-time Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's poster boy was sworn in as CM for a third term on Tuesday at a grand swearing-in ceremony at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Gandhinagar amid high-pitched celebrations.

Tens of thousands of BJP supporters cheered as 57-year-old Modi was administered oath of office by Governor Naval Kishore Sharma. It's the fourth successive BJP government in the state that Modi is going to head.

Top BJP leaders, including LK Advani, party President Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi, Chief Ministers of NDA-ruled states and NDA leader George Fernandes attended the fucntion. Among other BJP leaders who attended the function included Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley, Jaya Jaitley and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje among others.
AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and Bihar's deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi were also present.

Advani, Rajnath Singh and former Vice-President of India Bhairon Singh Shekhawat were among the first to greet Modi immediately after the swearing-in.
Modi, along with the top BJP leaders, then took a victory lap around the expansive Sardar Patel Stadium as tens of thousands of supporters cheered and shouted slogans for Modi as well as BJP.

Modi was the only one to take oath of office on Tuesday. The oath-taking ceremony took place at the same venue where Modi had taken oath of office in December 2002.
Earlier, there were plans to hold the function in Rajkot, the main city of the Saurashtra region, which was the hub of anti-Modi dissidents in the party. Modi is likely to announce his Cabinet in a day or two.

The swearing-in ceremony was advanced to Tuesday to coincide with the 84th birthday of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The BJP dedicated Modi's swearing-in as a birthday gift for the party patriarch.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
Complete artical HERE

Monday, December 24, 2007

Narendra Modi will take oath on Vajpayee's birthday

Narendra Modi will take oath for the third time as Gujarat chief minister on Tuesday, which is veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday.

Modi, who Sunday led the BJP to victory in Gujarat once again winning 117 of the 182 seats, will take the oath of office at 12.39 p.m., considered an auspicious time.

The grand ceremony is likely to take place either at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, where the same ceremony was held in December 2002, or in capital Gandhinagar.

There were plans earlier to hold the function in Rajkot, the main city of the Saurashtra region that was the hub of anti-Modi dissidents in the party.

BJP sources here said top central leaders including Vajpayee were likely to attend the ceremony.

Courtesy:news.digitaltoday.in
Complete artical HERE

THE VICTORY MARCH OF HINDUTVA

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Hinduvta’s poster boy, on Sunday led the BJP to a spectacular victory in the state, crushing the Congress and catapulting himself firmly on the national political stage.

A triumphant Narendra Modi thanked the people of the state for once again reposing faith in him and appealed to all political parties to have a positive attitude and help him build a 'Golden Gujarat'.

In a performance that stunned friends and foes alike, Modi won 117 seats in the 182-member Assembly, marginally less than the 127 it got in 2002 at the height of communal polarisation.
The dejected Congress admitted that Modi's showing was a remarkable achievement and said that the party was deeply disappointed with its own performance in Gujarat.

Gujarat's Muslims welcomed Modi's victory in the Assembly elections, hoping for continued peace and economic development over the next five years.

Civil society and human rights activists also felt the heat of Modi’s victory in a different parameter and said that Modi's victory in the Gujarat Assembly elections was a "wake up call" for the people to be more "responsive" to issues of human rights.

Terming his election victory as a ‘positive vote’, Modi urged all parties and “all those who love Gujarat to rise above political equations and rededicate themselves for the progress of the state”.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
Complete artical HERE

Narendra Modi is vote ka saudagr

There’s no stopping this man. On Sunday, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi defied all poll predictions and anti-incumbency to pull off a stunning electoral victory by romping back to power with a near two-thirds majority. His tally: 117 of the state's 182 seats. Congress: virtually where it was in 2002 with 59 seats.

His huge win is pregnant with implications for national politics. It alters equations within BJP by pitching him as a clear successor, gives a boost to a flagging NDA, leaves Congress demoralized but assured of greater support from "secular" parties, and possibly leaves it without the stomach for a fight with the Left to salvage the nuclear deal.

It is also expected to alter the political discourse in favour of a more radical Hindutva. It could create a greater popular quest for a strongman as leader who will focus his politics on development. Modi, the chief minister who withdrew free electricity and still won an election, could emerge very attractive to the reforms-friendly Indian middle class.

Modi’s swearing-in as chief minister is expected to take place on December 25.
Though the Modi camp has been confident of a win, the scale of the victory was gratifying. BJP was ahead of Congress in all regions except central Gujarat where it dropped behind its rival.

But elsewhere it was dominant. The much-talked about desertions by Patels and Kolis from the BJP tent turned out to be a non-starter as Saurashtra delivered a big chunk of 46 seats to 16 for Congress.

In fact, the Modi juggernaut virtually swept all before it. Near sweeps in Saurashtra and north Gujarat saw the debate being settled decisively in favour of BJP. In north Gujarat, BJP won 35 to Congress’s 14 seats, giving the party an unassailable lead overall. If the much-discussed rebel factor did not hurt Modi, the rebellion in tribal areas that Congress was banking on did not materialise eiather.

Courtesy:timesofindia.com
Complete artical HERE

Sunday, December 23, 2007

THE FINAL VERDICT IN GUJARAT

Modi masks, Modi T-shirts and Modi slogans—it was Chief Minister Narendra Modi all the way as tens of thousands Sunday celebrated a resounding win of the BJP in Gujarat.

It was festival time at the BJP headquarters here and in virtually every town across the state with men and women pouring out of their homes and dancing to drum beats, waving the party's green-and-saffron flags and shouting unending slogans hailing their undisputed hero: Modi.

Firecrackers were set off at regular intervals, the deafening noise at times drowning the wild sloganeering. Many distributed sweets - and consumed them with relish too.
Some men danced holding their children on their shoulders.

Many sported "Modi masks", which became hugely popular during the campaigning for the Dec 11 and 16 polling, waving their hands frantically each time TV cameras focussed on them.

At the party head office, a few Muslims conspicuous with their skullcaps joined the chorus.
"There has been developmental work. Let us hope Modi continues to develop Gujarat," Mohammed Bilal, one of the Muslims, told IANS.

Slogans that rent the air included "Jeet Gaya Gujarat!" (Gujarat has won), a change from the pre-election slogan of "Jeetega Gujarat!" (Gujarat will win).

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
Complete artical HERE

Sunday, December 16, 2007

BJP to post historic win: Modi

Exercising his franchise at Ahmedabad this morning, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said BJP will romp to a ''historical victory'' in the state assembly elections.

Modi cast his vote at the Nav Chetna school in Ranip locality of the city.

A large number of BJP supporters and eager onlookers had gathered at Ranip to catch a glimpse of Modi on his arrival.

In the second phase of polling, 599 candidates will be fighting it out for the remaining 95 seats in the 182-seat strong Gujarat State Legislature.

Voting for the 87 assembly seats had concluded in the first phase of polling held on December 11.
Modi, after casting his vote, said, ''election is being fought by the people for the victory of the state. BJP will post a historic win here''.

Meanwhile, a section of the large crowd present to catch a glimpse of Modi chased away television cameramen who were present at the polling booth in Ranip.

However, nobody was injured in the incident which happened after Modi left the venue.

The crowd was apparently angry at the television crew for portraying Modi in bad light.

Courtesy:ndtv.com
Complete artical HETE

Phase II:Election in Gujarat is conclude

The fate of 599 candidates including that of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines after polling for the second and last phase of state assembly elections drew to a close on Sunday.

Barring some stray incidents of stone-pelting, complaints of names missing from voters' list and faulty EVMs, the polling in 25,545 booths of North and Central Gujarat regions was largely incident-free.

The counting of the votes will be held on December 23. About 1,87,16,283 voters (95,66,234 males and 91,50,049 females) will decide the fate of 599 candidates, including 31 women in 95 constituencies.

Despite the winter chill, a large number of people turned up for voting since morning.
Both the Congress and the ruling BJP have staked claim of gaining a majority in the 182-seat state Assembly and forming the next government in Gujarat.

The regions where the second phase of elections held today were among the worst-affected in the 2002 riots.

Courtesy:timesofindia.com
Complete artical HERE

BJP will emerge victorious in Gujarat, HP polls: Advani

Asserting that the Bharatiya Janta Party will emerge victorious in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls, senior BJP leader L K Advani said the party will win hands down in Gujarat and come back to power under the leadership of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Accompanied by his wife, Advani was among the first voters who braved the morning winter chill and cast his vote for the second phase of Gujarat polls at the Bhardaiyawas Municipal school in Khanpur area of the city this morning.

"In Gujarat, BJP under the leadership of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will get the necessary mandate to form the government," Advani said after casting his franchise.

"I have seen the atmosphere prevailing in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh," he said adding, "in Gujarat BJP will easily get a majority."

Advani said neither anti-incumbency nor dissidence within the BJP ranks in Gujarat will have any effect on the party's performance in the state assembly elections.

"I have not seen any anti-incumbency factor in Gujarat," the former deputy prime minister said.

"Normally anti-incumbency factor is associated more with sitting MLAs and candidates. But BJP has made certain changes (in appointment of the candidates) which will benefit the party", he added.

"Dissidence will also not affect the party in Gujarat", the Leader of Opposition remarked.
"I have cast my vote here and now I will be heading to Himachal Pradesh (HP) where I will be campaigning for the party for about two days," Advani said.

"The elections that will happen in Himachal will also bring a change in the state," he said adding that BJP was set to emerge victorious in HP as well.

"Similar changes have happened in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chattishgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttarakhand," he added.

Advani, who was recently declared as BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate said, "the Lok Sabha elections which were to happen in 2009 will now happen in 2008 due to the inability at the Centre".

Courtesy:thehindu.com
Complete artical HERE

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Litmus test for Modi in round 2

After the elections for the first phase on December 11 in the two peace zones of 2002 - Saurashtra and South Gujarat - the state is gearing up for polls in the two war zones of the post-Godhra reprisal - Central Gujarat and Northern Gujarat.

BJP did very well in areas where the communal temperature was high in 2002. Almost all the killings took place in the CG and NG regions where even villages and tribal areas were filled with hatred and fear in what has come to be known as Hindutva's laboratory.

The elections in 2002 saw the BJP bagging 73 of the 95 seats which will see the second and last phase of polling on Sunday.

This was the BJP's best-ever performance in these regions, more significantly in Central Gujarat which had remained a Congress bastion for long. But CG results were not surprising, given that this was closer to ‘Ground Zero' at Godhra.

The tribal belt running down through the east, where victims were hunted down in 2002, was completely swept by saffron wave. These polls will test whether Hindutva still rules the minds, or the riot cases, which have now got reopened, have trapped the tribals leaving behind a feeling that mob leaders had left them in the lurch.

Courtesy:timesofindia.com
Complete artical HERE

Echo of riots silenced by Gujarat war of words

While the rest of Gujarat is festooned in garish election garb, Gulbarg Society in Meghani Nagar wears a haunted look. The charred walls and windows and the ruins of what was once a bustling neighbourhood are today a grim reminder of the nightmare that tore through Gujarat in 2002.

The silence is deafening, the steps leading to the rundown buildings remain desolate and the doors are locked. The people who lived here are either dead or have chosen to stay away.

Amidst the election campaign and the big war of words between the Congress and Narendra Modi, the link that seems to be missing is that of justice for those who suffered in the 2002 riots.
The Gujarat elections appear like national elections with the Congress talking about Masood Azhar and the BJP raising the issue of Afzal Guru. Yet, no one wants to talk about the post-Godhra riots.

So have the riot victims been forgotten in Gujarat's high-voltage election campaign? This question was debated on CNN-IBN show Face The Nation on Friday by a panel comprising Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, BJP's Prakash Javadekar and filmmaker Rahul Dholakia.

Dholakia directed Parzania - the film based on the post-Godhra riots - and tried to address the question in great detail as to why nothing was done about those who suffered.

Asked about the Congress' paranoia with the post-Godhra riots issue, Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi rejected the contention that his party was scared of talking about the riots as it could polarise the Gujarati voter.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
Complete artical HERE

First phase exit polls worry to BJP in Gujarat

The exit polls done for the first phase of elections in Gujarat seem to suggest that BJP will at worst win 13 seats fewer in this phase than it did last time.

With almost half the state having voted, it might seem that the decline is not enough to seriously threaten Narendra Modi's hold on power. After all, in 2002 it had won 35 seats more than it needed for a majority. Yet, there is enough in these polls to make BJP worry.

What the polls are predicting is a better performance by Congress so far than in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. In those polls, the party had led in 92 assembly segments and BJP in 90. More importantly, Congress had led in 58 of the 95 seats that will poll on Sunday. If it is able to just repeat that performance, it will need no more than 34 seats in the first phase to get a majority.

Of the two exit polls, one gave 43 seats to Congress in the first phase, the other 37.
But how likely is it that Congress can repeat the 2004 performance in the second phase? If history is any indicator, the chances are quite high. In the five elections - Lok Sabha and state assembly - held in Gujarat in the last decade, Congress has almost always done much better in north and central Gujarat, the areas that will poll in the second phase, than it has in those that have already polled.

The only time that did not happen was in the 2002 assembly elections. But, those were elections held in the immediate aftermath of the riots, which were concentrated almost entirely in north and central Gujarat and hence led to sharp communal polarisation in those regions. As a result,
BJP won 73 of the 95 seats and Congress a mere 21

Courtesy:timesofindia.com
Complete artical HERE

Friday, December 14, 2007

Campaing for 95 seats in the central and eastern districts of Gujarat end on Friday

The bitter election campaign in Gujarat draws to a close on Friday.
Polling for 95 seats in the central and eastern districts of Gujarat will take place on Sunday.

They include: Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Mehsana Banskantha, Patan, Sabarkantha, Dahod, Kheda, Panchmahal, Vadodara and Anand. The districts that had witnessed the worst of post-Godhra violence will also vote on the same day.

The most prestigious among them is Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, Maninagar. Congress has fielded Union Minister Dinsha Patel from here. Former deputy CM Narhari Amin, who is contesting from Matar, is the other prominent candidate in this round.

The BJP had won a majority of these seats in the 2002 polls but opinion polls are predicting a tough battle for the party this time around.

Not surprisingly, personal attacks from the BJP and the Congress camps have intensified in the campaigning for this crucial round despite notices by the Election Commission and the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Modi's verbal attack on Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh continued.

The latest one came on Thursday, the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attack on Parliament.
“I am asking for votes and making the government on the development issue only. I have come here for the hisab of my five years of service, and you will all have to give me the same.

Soniaben you are not hanging all those who committed the crimes. Then tell me who is saving those criminals? Your Government is functioning like Maut ka Saudagar (merchant of death) and you are blaming me for that. Soniaben, please come down and we will do all the hisab,” he said.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
Complete artical HERE

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Gujarat polls: BJP issues ad carrying Vajpayee's appeal

At the fag end of electioneering for the two-phased Assembly polls in Gujarat, the ruling BJP on Thursday published an advertisement carrying an appeal by party veteran and former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to bring the party back in power in the state.

Throughout the campaigning for the 182-member assembly, it has been out and out Chief Minister Narendra Modi's show.

With just two days to go for the second phase of polls, scheduled for December 16, the BJP has issued an appeal by Vajpayee in the local newspapers.

Vajpayee, who did not campaign in the polls due to health reasons, tells the people that they again have an opportunity to ensure a good future for the state for five years.

"I am confident that you as in the past will choose a government which is committed towards growth and development of the state," he says in the appeal, asking people to return Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to power.

He further says: "Gujarat has made rapid strides towards development in the last few years. It has set new records in the area of development. The development has benefited people belonging to all strata of society".

Courtesy:thehindu.com
Complete artical HERE

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Narendra Modi may loses some seats in first phase

Polling hovered around the 60-65 per cent mark in the peaceful first phase of the Gujarat elections on Tuesday as political analysts went into a huddle trying to figure out what this moderate turnout meant for the forces for and against Narendra Modi.

If initial reports in the satta market, which is being seen as a good barometer of political currents, are to be believed, there were some losses for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Saurashtra and a near repeat of the 2002 performance between the two parties in South Gujarat.

Overall, of the 87 seats which went to polls on Tuesday, the bookies were giving 38 seats to the Congress, 46 to BJP and three seats to smaller parties/independents. In 2002, the BJP had got 54, Congress 30 and smaller parties/independents got three.

The gains for the Congress in these two regions have to be really significant if the Congress has to get anywhere near the magical figure of 92 to get a simple majority. Saurashtra and South Gujarat were weak spots for Modi, in comparison with Central Gujarat and North Gujarat where he appears to be on firmer ground.

The second phase of polling for the remaining 95 seats will be held on December 16 where the BJP had made a clean sweep of these areas which were closer to Godhra and had witnessed the worst of the riots in 2002. While the communal pitch in 2007 is nowhere near the 2002 levels, this will be a test of Narendra Modi’s own popularity.

Courtesy:timesofindia.com
Complete artical HERE

NDTV Exit poll on Gujarat first phase

The battle for Gujarat is now well and truly underway with the first phase of the two-phase poll ending on Tuesday.

Eighty-six assembly seats voted in south Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch, areas where the rebellion against Chief Minister Narendra Modi is the strongest.

As per the Election Commission the voter turnout was pegged at around 50 to 60 per cent.

The NDTV Exit Poll predicts the BJP will get 13 seats less than 2002, while the Congress gains in all the seats.

The BJP is likely to get only 26 seats in Saurashtra as opposed to 39 in 2002. The Congress meanwhile gets 31 as against 18 seats in 2002.

Among the candidates were key BJP rebels who have thrown their weight behind former chief minister Keshubhai Patel. The Saurashtra region is home to Patel who himself did not come out to vote on Tuesday

Courtesy:ndtv.com
Complete artical HERE

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