NEW DELHI: Exit polls on Thursday predicted a victory for the ruling BJP in Gujarat, giving it a clear majority in the keenly-contested assembly polls in the state.

Similar predictions for a BJP win are being made for Himachal Pradesh. Results for both races are expected on Monday.

Soon after voting ended in the second and final phase of the election on Thursday, an exit poll gave the BJP 115 of the total 182 seats and the Congress, 65. Another poll gave the ruling party 108 seats and 74 to the Congress.

The Times Now-VMR Exit poll predicted 115 seats for the BJP and 64 for the Congress, with the remaining seats going to other parties.

The Republic-C Voter Exit Poll gave the BJP 108 seats and the Congress, 74.

The ABP-CSDS survey by ABP News predicted a BJP victory in 117 seats as against the Congress’s 64.

NDTV channel said the BJP was likely to get 112 seats and the Congress 70.

A survey by India Today’s ‘Aaj Tak’ news channel also predicted that the BJP, which has been ruling Gujarat for almost 20 years, would retain power in the state.

It said the BJP would emerge as the winner in 99-113 Assembly segments in the state, while the Congress could win 68-82 seats.

A party has to win 92 seats or more to form a government in the state.

In the 2012 Assembly polls in Gujarat, the BJP had won 115 seats, the Congress 61 and others, six. For Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh, the Times Now-VMR and Zee News-Axis exit polls predicted that the BJP would win 51 of the total 68 seats in the state.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2017