‘BJP will break all records’: Amit Shah ahead of Gujarat Assembly elections

Union minister Amit Shah Tuesday declared himself 'confident' the BJP will win next month's Gujarat election. Shah claimed the BJP would 'break all records and form the government in Gujarat with a majority'. Lauding the leadership of prime minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, he said the state's fortunes had improved.

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“The leadership of PM Modi and CM Patel is giving pace to development work. Gujarat's law and order situation has improved, and the state's economy has grown. PM Modi's development model for Dalits, tribals and OBC community of Gujarat is being followed by CM Patel,” Shah was quoted by news agency ANI.

Gujarat votes in two phases on December 1 and December 5 to fill its 182-member legislative assembly. Results will be declared on December 8.

Wary of anti-incumbency as it seeks to retain control of the prime minister’s home state - which it has ruled unchallenged for nearly three decades now - the ruling BJP has fielded a mix of established names and new faces.

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Among them former are ex Morbi MLA Kantibhai Amrutiya, who made headlines after reportedly risking his life to save people during last month’s bridge collapse, and chief minister Patel. A new face is Rivaba Jadeja, wife of India cricketer Ravindra Jadeja; she will contest from Jamnagar (north).

The party will count on a star-studded campaigners list - including the prime minister and Shah, as well as his cabinet colleagues Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan, Bhupendra Yadav, and Mansukh Mandaviya, and also BJP chief JP Nadda.

Pre-poll survey indicate the BJP will hold Gujarat comfortably, with neither the Congress nor the Aam Aadmi Party expected to provide too much of a problem.