Cong likely to shift elected MLAs out of Gujarat; BJP preparing to celebrate victory

Gandhinagar, Dec 7

On the eve of the counting of votes for the Gujarat Assembly elections, the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have started preparing for D-day.

While preparations for a grand victory celebration have started at the state BJP office here, Congress leaders led by the party's Gujarat in-charge, Raghu Sharma, are chalking out plans for how to protect the elected MLAs from poaching.

While the Aam Aadmi Party seems to have realised that it may not gain much ground in Gujarat as it thought, the party's state unit chief Gopal Italia thanked the voters for elevating AAP as a national party by voting for it.

According to sources, BJP leaders convened meetings with district and city unit chiefs and discussed the issue of low voter turnout.

The Congress leaders held a meeting chaired by Raghu Sharma and GPCC President Jagdish Thakor, where they assessed the 179 seats in which Congress candidates are in the fray.

According to sources, the party leaders even discussed plans to shift the elected MLAs out of Gujarat to protect them from poaching by the BJP.

Congress spokesman Hemang Raval said that the party is confident of winning the elections by bagging 95-105 seats in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, adding that the party doesn't see BJP winning more than 80 seats.

--IANS