Results of the elections to the Gujarat Assembly will be out on December 8, Thursday. The second and last phase concluded on Elections 2022 concluded on December 5. The first phase of voting took place on December 1.

According to the Election Commission of India, approximately 58.68 per cent of polling was recorded till 5 pm in the second phase of voting.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to clean sweep in Gujarat, exit polls predicted. The News X-Jan Ki Baat Exit Polls 2022 says BJP will win 117-140 seats while Congress+NCP will secure 34-51 seats and AAP is likely to win 6-13 seats.

Exit Polls of TV9 Gujarati predicted BJP to win 125-130 seats, Congress+NCP 40-50 seats, and AAP 3-5 seats. The Republic- P-MARQ exit polls had BJP winning between 128-148 seats, Congress+NCP 30-42 seats, and AAP 2-10 seats.

The Times Now-ETG exit polls say the BJP is likely to win 131 seats, the Congress+NCP is expected to secure 41 seats, and AAP is likely to win 6 seats.

Prominent seats in the second phase of voting were Viramgam from where Hardik Patel is contesting on the BJP ticket, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s Ghatlodia in Ahmedabad, and Gandhinagar South from where BJP’s Alpesh Thakor is contesting.

For those unversed, exit polls are surveys carried out by media organisations outside the polling booths through sampling methods to forecast the likely results of the elections before the final outcome is declared. The counting of votes for the Gujarat Assembly polls will be conducted on December 8.

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Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party fielded candidates in all 16 seats this year while Congress is contesting in 90 seats and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has pitted candidates in 2 seats.

Reports said around 833 candidates contested across the 93-seat polling for the second phase of voting in the state. These are prominent seats for the Bharatiya Janata Party which has dominated for almost three decades now.

This year, Gujarat witnessed a three-way tough fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party, Aam Aadmi Party, and Congress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also cast their votes and PM Modi also urged people to step out to vote.

Reports said the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls saw low turnout with a 34.7 per cent turnout was recorded till 1 pm on December 1.

The Exit Polls hint at a clean sweep for the ruling BJP in the Gujarat Assembly election as according to Aaj Tak-Axis My India the saffron party is at 140 and the grand old party is trailing behind at 23, the Aam Aadmi Party has predicted to have performed poorly as they are at 15.

As per the ABP News-Cvoter, the BJP is again sweeping the election at 134 as opposed to Congress, who are at Congress 37 as per exit polls; the Aam Aadmi Party is also falling behind at just 7.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a dig at Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in Kota, Rajasthan and said Lok Sabha TV only shows the speaker’s face throughout.

Speaking during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kota, Congress MP said his party want to speak on demonetisation, GST, or China issue in the Parliament, however, their mics are turned off and the camera never comes towards them.

Further, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said the Bharat Jodo Yatra has been taken out to save the country, its constitution, and democracy.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi resumed his Bharat Jodo Yatra on its 91st day on December 7 and marched towards Kota from Darra Station Ganesh Mandir. The yatra started from Darra station in the Sangod area which is represented by Congress MLA Bharat Singh. Rahul Gandhi also interacted with students studying in coaching centres in Kota.

The Yatra was joined by Congress’ General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, Sachin Pilot, and social activist Aruna Roy. Rahul Gandhi also interacted with padayatra on his way to Kota.

Meanwhile, the Winter Session of Parliament began on Wednesday and will continue till December 29. Reports said the Centre’s agenda for this session includes 16 new bills.

Some of the bills scheduled for introduction in the Winter Session of Parliament are the Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2022. The Repealing and Amending Bill, of 2022 will seek to repeal redundant and obsolete laws, reports said.

On Tuesday, Union Minister Rajnath Singh chaired an all-party meeting to seek cooperation from all parties for the smooth functioning of the session. Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi were also present in the meeting, reports further said.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Center and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to produce relevant records relating to the government’s decision to invalidate Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes in 2016.

While reserving its judgment on a bunch of pleas challenging the Centre’s 2016 decision, a 5-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice S A Nazeer and including Attorney General R Venkataramani, RBI counsel, senior advocates P Chidambaram and Shyam Divan heard the arguments of the counsel for the petitioners. The supreme Court of India has ordered Centre government and the Reserve Bank of India to produce records related to demonetisation.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, AS Bopanna, V Ramasubramaniam and BV Nagarathna said that they have heard both the parties and will have their judgment reserved. They further said that counsel for the Union of India and the Reserve Bank of India are directed to place the relevant records.

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For the unversed, a written submission has to be furnished to court by December 10. The Attorney General for India R Venkataramani said that the documents will be produce in a sealed cover. The bench observed that it can examine the manner in which the decision was taken. The top court was hearing a batch of 58 petitions challenging the note ban announced by the Centre on November 8, 2016.

On October 12, the bench agreed to hear the matter on merits, after the persuasive arguments made by Senior Advocate P Chidambaram. The bench asked the Union Government and the Reserve Bank of India to produce before it, the relevant documents and files relating to the decision.

Senior Advocate P Chidambaram was from the petitioners side who opened the arguments and said that no doubt the effects of the decision cannot be undone, Hence, the Court should lay down the law for the future, so that similar misadventures are not repeated by the future governments.

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