Gujarat elections 2012: Narendra Modi bulldozes opposition, secures absolute majority for BJP

Chief Minister Narendra Modi today led the BJP to a decisive win in Gujarat for a third time in a row with the party securing a massive win, clinching 115 seats for the 182-member assembly – BJP has not been able to outdo its tally in 2007.

Arch rival Congress, out of power in the state for the last 22 years, won 61 seats while others bagged four, including two by Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) of former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel.

NCP of Sharad Pawar, which fought the election in alliance with Congress, has won two seats and JD(U) one.

Congress suffered a major blow when its state unit chief Arjun Modhwadia lost the Porbandar seat to Babu Bokhiria of BJP by 17,146 votes, while Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil was defeated by Minister of State for fisheries Purushottam Solanki of the saffron party by 18,554 votes in Bhavnagar rural constituency.

Both were strong contenders for chief ministership in the event of Congress coming to power.

However, Shankar Singh Vaghela, Congress spearhead in the poll campaign and former state Chief Minister, managed to win Kapadvanj seat defeating Kanubhai Dabhi of BJP by a margin of 6597 votes.

Gujarat Parivartan Party president Keshubhai Patel scored a facile victory in Visavadar in Saurashtra defeating BJP's Kanubhai Bhalala by over 42,000 votes.

Though BJP registered an emphatic victory, five of its ministers fell by the wayside.

Those who lost included Agriculture Minister Dileep Sanghani (Amreli), Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas (Siddhpur), Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Fakirbhai Vaghela (Vadgam), Minister of State for Forest and Environment Kiritsinh Rana (Limbdi) and Minister of State for Agriculture Kanubhai Bhalala (Visavadar).

It appears to be a near repeat performance by both BJP and Congress who had won 117 and 59 seats respectively in the last polls.

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