Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Sunday that he was confident of a landslide victory for ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Assembly elections.
"I am confident that the results will be in favour of BJP. BJP will form the government and will get more than two-third of the (182 Gujarat Assembly) seats," he said.
"Gujarat public has preferred politics of development, and development was brought in by Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and the BJP," Rupani added, as per ANI.
Replying to the allegations of Congress about tampering with electronic voting machines (EVMs), he said the baseless charges had been made "so that the responsibility of defeat does not fall on Rahul Gandhi" when the results would be declared on Monday.
Rupani also dismissed Congress ally Hardik Patel's allegation of 140 engineers being hired to tamper 5000 EVMs, as insignificant.
Counting of votes will be held on Monday for the Gujarat Assembly elections, considered a prestige battle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his home state and a litmus test for new Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Counting of votes will be held at 37 centres across Gujarat's 33 districts, amid tight security. The voting was held following an acrimonious campaign, where both the main political parties indulged in no-holds-barred attacks on each other.
While PM Modi led the campaign for the BJP, Rahul was the pivot of the Congress' electioneering.
According to the final figures released by the Election Commission, the voter turnout in the second phase of voting on December 14, for 93 seats of north and central Gujarat, stood at 69.99 percent.
In the first phase of polls held on December 9 for 89 seats in Saurasthra, Kutch and South Gujarat, 66.75 percent voting was recorded. In terms of numbers, of the total 4.35 crore registered voters, 2.97 crore exercised their right to franchise.
While the BJP is seeking a sixth straight term in office in Gujarat, the Congress is aiming to stage a comeback in power after being in the Opposition for over two decades.
In the 2012 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 115 seats, while the Congress bagged 61 in Gujarat.
(With PTI inputs)
