Gujarat Assembly poll results on December 8

The much-awaited result of the high-stake Gujarat Assembly elections will be announced on Thursday. While most exit polls projected that the ruling BJP would win a strong majority for a seventh term, the results are also important for the Opposition Congress, which has been out of power in Gujarat for nearly three decades.

The new entrant in Gujarat’s political arena, AAP, is also hopeful of sending its first batch of MLAs to Gujarat Assembly for the first time. The result will also likely make the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP a “national party”.

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According to state chief electoral officer P Bharathi, the counting will begin at 37 centres from 8 am onwards.

According to several political observers, the Gujarat poll outcome will also set the tone for the 2024 general election.

“The result will have several political messages important for all three parties. If the ruling party wins with a thumping majority, BJP, led by Modi at the helm, may have smooth sailing in the Lok Sabha polls, too. However, anything less than 100 seats will send a message that Modi’s magic is waning,” a political observer said.

He added, “If Congress gets close to its last performance (77 seats), it will have some ammunition to fight back at the national level. A strong Congress in Gujarat will make the 2024 contest much more interesting.” In 2017, BJP was reduced to 99 seats in the house of 182 seats while Congress won 77.

The result will also be significant for the AAP, which has made the election a three-corner contest.