The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was formed only a decade ago and has claimed power in Delhi and the state of Punjab, is set to become one of the main opposition parties in Gujarat at the expense of the Congress.
In Surat, the state’s second largest city and center of diamond cutting and polishing, voters queued up in the early hours of Thursday to vote in the first of the two-phased elections.
A three-way contest is expected in the city with the Congress and the AAP also trying to make inroads in the BJP bastion. The second phase of polling is on Monday and the results are due on December 8.
In the last state election five years ago, the BJP won 99 seats in the 182-member assembly while the Congress got 77.
The BJP is expected to win between 131 and 139 seats this time, ABP-CVoter had projected in November. Congress can win 31 to 39 seats while Aam Aadmi Party can win up to 15.
According to the India TV-Matrix opinion poll conducted in November, BJP can win up to 119 seats.