Counting of votes is still underway but it's clear now that the BJP has scripted history in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat as it's set to win a record seventh term.

The party is on course to win the biggest majority by any party ever in Gujarat - which is a big boost for the BJP ahead of the 2024 general elections.

It is leading in 157 seats in the 182-member assembly. It is likely set to surpass its best performance of winning 127 seats in 2002.

But the BJP's electoral fortunes haven suffered a setback in Himachal Pradesh where it's set to lose to the Congress, which is on track to win at least 39 out of 68 seats.

The BJP was hoping to retain Himachal which has never voted a party back to power since the 1980s. But the state appears to be sticking with the trend.

With these details, we’re ending our live coverage. Thank you for being with us.

Today’s live page team included Zoya Mateen, Andrew Clarance, Nikita Mandhani, Anshul Verma, Devang Shah, Antariksh Jain, Geeta Pandey, Soutik Biswas and Vikas Pandey.

Image source, ANI/Getty Images

• Dalit lawyer and activist Jignesh Mevani is leading in Vadgam with a margin of over 7,000 votes. Mr Mevani won from Vadgam as an independent candidate in 2017 and joined the Congress last year.
• Hardik Patel - who switched over from the Congress party to the BJP in June - is leading by more than 40,000 votes in Viramgam. A fiery leader known for his oratory skills, Mr Patel rose to fame in 2015 for spearheading a massive campaign for better access to jobs and education through the quota system for Patels - or the Patidar community.
• Rivaba Jadeja, the wife of Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, is leading by a huge margin of more than 50,000 votes in Jamnagar North. Ms Rivaba, who was contesting her first election, joined the BJP in 2019.
• In a huge setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the party's chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi is trailing by over 18,000 votes in Khambhalia, a small town in the state’s Dwarka district. The AAP has been aggressively trying to make inroads into Gujarat, and a win in the constituency would've been an important milestone for the party.
• Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has won from Ghatlodia constituency in the state, receiving more than 80% of the total votes polled. He won by a margin of nearly 200,000 votes.
• BJP leader Alpesh Thakor is leading by a margin of more than 38,000 votes in the Thakor-dominated constituency of Gandhinagar South. He was one of the Congress' key youth faces in the state before he switched over to the BJP in 2019.

Image source, Getty Images

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur has conceded the BJP's defeat in the state.

He told ANI news agency that he accepted the people's mandate.

"We'll stand for the development of the state irrespective of politics. We'll analyse our shortcoming and improve during the next term," Mr Thakur said.

However, he won from Seraj with a margin of more than 38,000 votes. The Congress is leading on 39 seats in the 68-member assembly.

Geeta Pandey
BBC News, Delhi

The BJP has won from Morbi - the constituency that made headlines when a 137-year-old suspension bridge collapsed and plunged into a river on 30 October, killing 135 people, most of them women and children.

The party candidate Amrutiya Kantilal Shivlal defeated his nearest rival from the Congress party by more than 62,000 votes.

Mr Amrutiya was dubbed the "Morbi hero" after viral videos showed him jumping into the river to help with rescue operations.

During the election campaign, opposition parties blamed the tragedy on BJP’s “misgovernance” and hoped the collapse would become an election issue.

But as votecounting began on Thursday, it soon became clear that Amrutiya Kantilal Shivlal, a five-time legislator, was headed for his sixth term.

Analysts say the viral videos also played a part in his win.

Read my report from Morbi

The Congress has accepted defeat in Gujarat. Spokesperson Pawan Khera told the BBC's Faisal Mohammed Ali that the party would analyse the reasons behind its poor performance in the state.

He said the party was pleased with its results in Himachal Pradesh and would like to learn the best practices from the state.

Raghvendra Rao
BBC News, Hindi

What started off as a quiet morning at the BJP headquarters in Delhi has now turned into a loud and celebratory afternoon after it became clear that the party is set for a grand victory in Gujarat - the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The party is leading in 158 seats.

BJP workers have now started gathering at the party's headquarters in Delhi and celebrations have started. Supporters can be seen waving the BJP's flag and playing loud music.

Some BJP workers are also carrying large pictures of PM Modi.

The party headquarters is also gearing up to welcome PM Modi, who's likely to arrive around 6pm local time to join the celebrations. The BJP is still trailing in Himachal Pradesh but leaders are insisting that things could change soon.

Jubilant Congress workers are celebrating outside the party headquarters in Himachal Pradesh where they are set to form the government by defeating the ruling BJP.

The party is leading in 39 out of 68 seats and and looks set to win the state.

Image source, ANI

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi, who is contesting from Khambhalia in Gujarat, is trailing behind his BJP rival Hardasbhai Bera.

A former journalist, Mr Gadhvi led a spirited campaign in the state and had predicted that his party would win more than 100 of the 182 seats.

But it's pretty clear by now that the BJP is going to sweep the elections, with AAP at number three with leads in less than 10 seats.

The BJP is set to win the party stronghold of Gujarat by a record number of seats. It's leading in 157 constituencies - that's more than 80% of the 182 seats.

The main opposition Congress is leading in just 17 constituencies.

Meanwhile, in Himachal, the Congress has pulled ahead, with leads in 39 seats.

If similar trends continue and the Congress wins, it will be in line with the three-decade-old tradition of voting out the incumbent government in the state.

The BJP had won 44 seats in 2017 and was hoping to return for another term.

Meanwhile, newcomer AAP has failed to lead in even a single seat in the state.

Image source, Jignesh Mevani via Facebook

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani from the Congress is trailing by a margin of about 1,000 votes in Vadgam constituency to Manibhai Vaghela of the BJP.

A lawyer, Mr Mevani rose to prominence after a wave of targeted attacks in 2016 on Muslims and low-caste Hindus suspected of slaughtering cows - which are considered sacred in Hinduism.

He founded the Una Fight Against Dalit Atrocities after seven members of a Dalit family were publicly assaulted in the city of Una in 2016.

Mr Mevani won from Vadgam as an independent candidate in 2017 and joined the Congress last year.

The BJP and the Congress were in a close contest as early leads started to come in the morning.

But as hours past, the Congress established a substantial lead over the BJP.

The BBC's Raghvendra Rao explains the results.

Zubair Ahmed
BBC News, Hindi

It's pretty clear by now that the BJP is going to sweep the Gujarat elections.

Supporters of winning candidates from the party are gathering outside the counting centres in Ahmedabad city, shouting slogans and setting off fire crackers.

A handful of supporters of the only winning candidate from the Congress in Ahmedabad have also gathered and are planning to take out a victory procession later.

Outside one of the counting centres, there appears to be a competition between the supporters of the two main parties, but the Congress supporters have been outnumbered.

One BJP supporter told me he was expecting his party to win more than 150 seats. His wish may just come true - the party is leading in 152 seats. And if that happens, it will break the record the Congress set in 1985 when it won 149 seats.

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Image source, AFP

• A division in the opposition votes has helped the BJP enormously. The party is set to mop up a record 150 plus of 182 seats - analysts say this has been partly possible because of the emergence of AAP as an opposition force in a state where elections have been traditionally fought between two parties.
• From the trends so far, it appears that BJP has not lost its share of the popular vote, despite a spirited campaign by AAP. Instead, AAP appears to have eaten into votes of the Congress and ended up helping BJP cross 150 seats, says political scientist Amit Dholakia.
• It will be difficult for the Congress to recover from this debacle. By 2027, when the next election is due, the party would be relegated to number three and become a marginal player, say analysts. Expect an exodus of leaders and supporters from the Congress to AAP now, they add.
• As for AAP, its final vote share will tell the complete story of its arrival in Gujarat. Nobody expected AAP to gain much in its first outing in the state. "However, it has built a space in the opposition. It needs to build further. Going forward, they have to build cadre across the state, and bring more credible leaders," says Prof Dholakia.

• The opposition will need to do a lot to challenge the BJP in Gujarat. "It has almost become a hegemonic party, impossible to dislodge," says Prof Dholakia. "The two major pillars of BJP's popularity are Hindutva ideology and Mr Modi’s leadership. Without Mr Modi, the ideology would still sustain the BJP but his leadership consolidates and boosts the party."

Image source, ANI news agency

Rivaba Jadeja, the wife of Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, is leading by a massive margin of 19,000 votes in Jamnagar North.

Ms Rivaba, who is contesting her first election, joined the BJP in 2019.

Interestingly, Ravindra Jadeja's father Aniruddhsinh and sister Naynaba are members of the Congress party and had campaigned for the rival candidate.

The cricketer had recently run into a controversy for appearing in a BJP campaign poster wearing the official Indian cricket team uniform.

Image source, Alpesh Thakor via Facebook

BJP leader Alpesh Thakor is leading by a margin of more than 6,000 votes ahead of Congress candidate Himanshu Patel in the Thakor-dominated constituency of Gandhinagar South.

He was one of Congress party's prominent youth faces in Gujarat before he switched over to the BJP in 2019.

He had won from the Radhanpur constituency in Patan district in 2017 - but lost the seat in the byelection after he switched his party.

Since 2014 when Narendra Modi left Gujarat to become the prime minister, the state has seen three chief ministers in over eight years.

Mr Modi’s first successor was Anandiben Patel who quit after two years.

She was replaced by Vijay Rupani who completed five years over two terms, but was replaced by Bhupendra Patel in 2021, a year ahead of the state election.

The frequent changes have sparked speculation about whether the party is struggling to fill Mr Modi's shoes in the state.

In 2017, the first election the BJP faced without him, the party won 99 constituencies to the 78 seats won by the Congress. It was the slimmest margin since 1995 when the BJP first came to power in Gujarat.

This time too, Mr Patel asked for votes in Mr Modi's name, as did other BJP candidates.

It isn't surprising, then, that Mr Modi continues to be the face of the BJP's election campaign in the state.

Counting in the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh is underway as leads now show that the Congress party is ahead in 38 seats compared to the BJP's 27.

The incumbent chief minister and veteran BJP leader, Jai Ram Thakur, is leading over the Congress party's Chet Ram Thakur with over 20,000 votes.

Assembly elections were held in the state on 12 November. More than five million voters were eligible to vote for 412 candidates across 68 assembly constituencies.

The BJP is set for a huge win in PM Modi's home state of Gujarat.

Early celebration has started in several BJP offices across the state.

The party is leading in more than 150 seats while the main opposition Congress is ahead in 20 constituencies.

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Image source, AFP

The BJP dropped 40 of its 111 incumbent legislators in the run up to the election in Gujarat. Nineteen of them rebelled and were suspended by the party. They contested the polls as independent candidates.

“The extent of discontent over election tickets was more in BJP than in Congress, which is unusual,” says Darshan Desai, a Gujarat-based analyst. “But the BJP appears to be shock proof against rebels.”

One reason could be what political scientist Giles Verniers calls “the diminishing stature of legislators [in India] because of a political culture that favours concentration of power in the hands of state chief ministers".

In the case of Gujarat, the writ of PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in choosing candidates for the state poll ran large.

Over the years, the BJP poached 20 legislators from the Congress, boosting the party’s majority in the Gujarat assembly. Most of them got tickets to contest this elections and are expected to win, say analysts. This again proves how Mr Modi's image looms large over Gujarat.

The BJP is set for a convincing win in Gujarat where it leads in 152 seats.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had hoped to make a dent in the BJP's electoral efforts, leads in just seven seats. India's man opposition party, Congress, leads in 17 seats.

While counting continues and a final picture will only emerge in a few hours, trends show the BJP gaining early leads in a large number of seats in the state - a stronghold of the party.

In the run up to the elections, senior BJP members, including PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and party chief JP Nadda had campaigned extensively in the state.

Meanwhile, in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP and Congress are in a close contest in the fight for 68 seats. Early trends show the Congress leading in 34 seats while the BJP follows close behind.

In 2017, the BJP had won 44 seats in Himachal Pradesh and was hoping to form the government in the hilly state again.

However, the state has never voted for the same party twice since the 1980s.

Newcomer AAP was looking to make its presence felt in the state, but trends do not show it leading in even a single seat.