Gandhinagar: The vote counting for 25 out of 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat starts at 8 am on Tuesday, June 4. A total of over 250 candidates participated in the elections, which saw a 60.13% voter turnout. Follow the LIVE updates on the 2024 Lok Sabha Election Results.

Tweets by DeshGujarat

Mukesh Dalal, a BJP candidate, won the Surat seat uncontested after the Congress candidate, Nilesh Kumbhani, had his nomination rejected due to signature irregularities. Other candidates withdrew before the election. Voting for the remaining 25 seats took place on May 7, during the third phase of the seven-phase election.

Notable candidates include union home minister Amit Shah, competing against Congress’ Sonal Patel. In Rajkot, BJP’s Parshottam Rupala faces Congress’ Paresh Dhanani. In Porbandar, BJP’s Mansukh Mandaviya is up against Congress’ Lalitbhai Vasoya. In Anand, BJP’s Mitesh Rameshbhai Patel is contesting against Congress’ Amitbhai Chavda. Bhavnagar sees BJP’s Nimu Bambhania challenging AAP’s Umesh Makwana.

The Congress, in alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), aims to consolidate opposition votes to prevent a BJP repeat of their 2014 and 2019 clean sweeps. Congress, fielding four current and eight former MLAs, got 24 seats, including Surat, while AAP was allocated Bhavnagar and Bharuch.

The BJP aims to replicate its past victories in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah’s home state. The party won all 26 seats in the 2014 and 2019 elections.

State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Bharathi mentioned that 56 counting observers, 30 election officers, and 180 assistant election officers will be on duty. Additionally, 614 assistant election officers are handling postal ballots.

The BJP’s campaign was spearheaded by PM Modi and Amit Shah. Congress’s campaign featured Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Mallikarjun Kharge. The AAP campaign included rallies by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and senior leaders Sanjay Singh and Gopal Yadav. Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is jailed in connection with an excise policy case, also campaigned in Bharuch.

During the campaign, BJP faced backlash from the Kshatriya community over Rupala’s remarks in Rajkot about historical relations with foreign invaders. Despite this, community leaders urged support for BJP and PM Modi.

Exit polls by Axis My India-India Today suggest BJP may win 25-26 seats, while the INDIA bloc may secure 0-1 seats. Today’s Chanakya predicts BJP might win around BJP 26 ± 2 seats, with the Congress-AAP alliance (INDIA bloc) potentially winning + 0 ± 2 Seats.

Here is the list of all the BJP – INDI candidates