Modi sweeps Gujarat polls, falls four seats short of two-third majority

The Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi registered a thumping victory by winning in 117 seats of the 182-member State Assembly.

Ahmedabad, Dec 23 : The Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi registered a thumping victory by winning in 117 seats of the 182-member State Assembly.

The BJP's tally is ten less from its 2002 figure, and the party is short of four seats to register a two-third majority in the Assembly for the second consecutive time.

The Congress on the other hand managed to win 59 assembly seats, adding eight more seats to its previous strength.

The Nationalist Congress Party, which had an alliance with the Congress, won three seats, and the Janata Dal (United) registered victory in one seat.

Independents and others took two seats.

Modi registered a thumping victory in the Maninagar Assembly constituency by defeating Congress' candidate and Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dinsha Patel by 87, 000 votes.

Expressing his gratitude to the people of Gujarat for voting him back to power, Modi said that the people of state have rejected the negative forces and anti-Gujarat elements.

The people of Gujarat have voted for development and good governance of "my government," Modi told reporters.

Modi will become the Chief Minister of the State for the third consecutive time when he will take the oath on December 27.

Meanwhile, giving all credits to Modi for the BJP's stupendous victory in the Assembly polls, party president Rajnath Singh said that his party is confident of repeating the feat in Himachal Pradesh, which went to polls recently.

"Party has won the Gujarat election due to its ideology and development work done by Modi. Under the leadership of Modi, Gujarat has become a model state for the country," Singh told reporters here.

Singh also maintained that no individual "is bigger than party" and dismissed suggestions of a leadership struggle within the BJP after the party's win in Gujarat.

The BJP has been in power in the State for over a decade.

ANI