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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 16, 2002

India's Ruling Party Wins Crucial Election in Gujarat

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of India secured a spectacular two-third majority in the west state of Gujarat in an election that it sees as a harbinger of its return to power at the center and some crucial states set to go to poll in the next two years.


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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of India secured a spectacular two-third majority in the west state of Gujarat in an election that it sees as a harbinger of its return to power at the center and some crucial states set to go to poll in the next two years.

BJP, or Indian People's Party in English, bagged 126 seats in an state assembly of 182, leaving its rival the Congress party with a margin of 51 seats, the election commission announced Sunday.

BJP's stunning sweep is a triumph for its hard-line and controversial Chief Minister Narendra Modi and a major setback to the Congress.

Shortly after the announcement by the election commission, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told the press that the "spectacular" performance in Gujarat Assembly polls had launched the party's march towards victory in coming elections in states and the parliamentary elections scheduled in 2004.

This is BJP's first major victory following a string of defeatsin the last two years and the success comes ahead of the crucial state assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi next year and the polls for the lower house of Indian parliament in 2004.

However, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI), the Congress won a sweeping victory in the south of the state.

Addressing jubilant party workers here at his residence, Vajpayee attacked the Congress for attempting to play the communalcard, saying that "communalism is a double edged sword which cuts both ways".

Just after announcement of the results, group clashes broke outin Vadodara, a major town in the state, injuring 12 people and promoting authorities to clamp an indefinite curfew in the area, PTI said.

Police said that they had resorted to 16 teargas to quell the mob.


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