LS results: BJP targets Gujarat sweep again, Cong aims to stop saffron wave

All necessary arrangements have been made for the counting of votes on Tuesday for polls to 25 Lok Seats in Gujarat where the BJP is looking to repeat a clean sweep while the Congress aims to stop the saffron juggernaut.

The counting of votes will be held from 8 am on Tuesday at 26 centres amid three-tier security arrangements, officials said.

Elections to 25 out of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat were held in a single phase on May 7.

More than 250 candidates contested the polls which witnessed 60.13 per cent voter turnout.

The BJP has already drawn first blood with Mukesh Dalal winning the Surat Lok Sabha seat unopposed after the nomination of the Congress' Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected over irregularities in the signature of proposers and other candidates withdrew before the polls.

The BJP is looking to repeat its sweep of 2014 and 2019 in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

There will be one counting centre each in 24 Lok Sabha constituencies, while the Anand Lok Sabha will have two such centres, state Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi said in a statement.

There will be 56 counting observers, 30 election officers and 180 assistant election officers deployed during the exercise, she said.

In addition to this, 614 assistant election officers have been assigned the responsibility for postal ballots, the statement said.

A micro-observer, a counting supervisor and a counting assistant have been assigned duty at each counting table, with two micro-observers placed in the counting hall. The entire process will be videographed, Bharathi said.

The strong room will be opened in the presence of the election officer/assistant election officer, candidates or their authorised representatives and observers appointed by the Election Commission of India.

The electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be taken out roundwise and brought to the counting hall, the statement said.

A three-tier security system has been ensured at all the counting centres, with the local police to be placed outside those campuses.

The State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) will be present at the counting location, and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) outside the counting centre and at the door of the strong room, the statement said.

Among the prominent candidates included Union Home Minister Shah from Gandhinagar, as well as his cabinet colleagues Mansukh Mandaviya and Parshottam Rupala from Porbandar and Rajkot, respectively.

During the campaign, the BJP had to face the ire of the Kshatriya community over a remark made by Rupala in Rajkot. He had claimed several rulers from the community had "roti and beti" (marriage and trade) relations with the British and other foreign invaders.

Rupala was pitted against former Congress MLA Paresh Dhanani, who defeated him in the 2002 assembly polls.

Several leaders from the community had made an appeal to their brethren to forgive Rupala for the remark and vote for the BJP for the sake of the nation and PM Modi.

The Congress, which fought the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, hopes this move to prevent division of opposition votes will stop the BJP from repeating its sweeping performance of 2014 and 2019.

As part of the alliance, the Congress, which fielded four sitting and eight former MLAs, got 24 seats (including Surat), while the AAP got Bhavnagar and Bharuch.

The BJP's campaign, in a state considered its strongest base, was led by PM Modi and Shah.

For the Congress, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among the star campaigners, along with Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP's campaign saw rallies by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as well as senior leaders Sanjay Singh and Gopal Yadav.

Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of the Delhi CM who is in jail in connection with a excise policy linked case, also held a roadshow in Bharuch.