Ahmedabad:
Gujarat's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took early leads Thursday as officials counted the millions of votes cast in the two-phase state election.
Election Commission officials said BJP candidates were leading in 50 of the 77 constituencies where trends were available. The Congress was ahead in 24 seats but appeared to be putting up a fight.
In early trends, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was leading in Maninagar constituency.
The Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) of former BJP chief minister Keshubhai Patel was in the lead in three seats in Saurashtra region.
No result had been declared yet, the officials said.
Before the vote count started across the state at 8 am, Mr Modi confidant Amit Shah asserted that the BJP was sure to win a two-thirds majority in the 182-member Gujarat assembly.
The BJP won 117 seats in the last election in 2007.