Opposition ahead of BJP in postal votes in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh

NEW DELHI: BJP won a majority of the vote in Gujarat with 52. 5% vote share, easily trumping the combined 40. 2% won by Congress and AAP put together, but in the postal votes, the two opposition parties had a combined share 54. 9% and BJP just 39. 8%, indicating that those entitled to postal ballots — armed forces personnel, staff on polling duty and elderly and disabled voters given the facility — were less favorably inclined towards the saffron party.

A similar trend was evident in Himachal, with BJP winning 41.1% of the postal votes compared with 43. 1% of the total votes. Congress, on the other hand, won nearly half the postal votes (49. 5%), a significantly higher proportion than its overall vote share of 43. 9%. Reintroduction of the old pension scheme was a top poll promise for the Congress, which could have been a major factor behind this trend in the hill state.