Ahmedabad:  The BJP announced names of all the candidates for the 2-phased elections to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, fielding Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel from his constituency Ghatlodia and dropping a number of sitting MLAs. 

The BJP is optimistic that it can continue its unbroken victory streak in state legislature elections dating back to 1995. Voting took place in two phases: the first on December 1 and the second on December 5. Vote tallying is currently underway.

At least 16 seats in Gujarat's recent assembly elections had victory margins of less than 3,000 votes, which had an almost equal impact on the chances of candidates from both of the major parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. In seven of these seats, there were victories with margins under 1,000. Of the 16 seats with razor-thin victory margins, 10 went to the BJP and only six to the grand old party.

On Monday, December 5, a number of exit polls predicted a crushing victory for the BJP, giving the saffron party a comfortable majority in the hotly contested Assembly elections in the state. According to the P-MARQ exit poll, the BJP would win the 182-seat Gujarat Assembly with 128-148 members. It was expected that the Congress would win 30-42 seats and the AAP 2-10.

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