After trailing for a while, the BJP is all set to retain power in Gujarat and from the next government in Himachal Pradesh, officials said.

Trends from counting centres across Gujarat put Bharatiya Janata Party candidates ahead in 104 seats while Congress nominees were forging ahead in 76 constituencies. The Gujarat Assembly has 182 seats.

After surprisingly leading over the Bharatiya Janata Party at one point and sending the stock market crashing, the Congress began to trail to the BJP again. Election Commission officials said the Congress was expected to grab 75 seats.

The BJP won 115 seats and the Congress 61 in 2012.

BJP supporters began celebrating in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar even though some of its leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel (Mehsana), were trailing to the Congress as officials counted the millions of votes polled on December 9 and 14.

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Chief Minister Vijay Rupani too trailed at one time in Rajkot West but managed to reverse the situation after a while and ultimately won, the officials said.

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, with Congress backing, was leading by 6,900 votes.

As the BJP crossed the half-way mark of 92, the BJP heaved a sigh of relief. But the trends were very different from the exit poll predictions of a sweeping win for the BJP.

BJP President Amit Shah had repeatedly claimed that his party would bag 150 seats.

As overjoyed Congress activists, expecting a victory, began celebrating early in the day, the stock markets took a beating. But the Congress celebrations were shortlived — and the stock markets made a quick recovery.

Modi, who had been the Gujarat Chief Minister from 2001 until he became the Prime Minister in 2014, flashed a V sign outside Parliament. Modi was the main campaigner for the BJP in Gujarat, his home state.

“We will form a government both in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in New Delhi.

Before the BJP crossed the half-way mark, Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza had said her party was equally confident of coming to power in Gujarat, saying people were “sick and tired of the 22 years of BJP misrule”.

The BJP’s better showing came from South Gujarat, Central Gujarat and North Gujarat. The Congress led in 33 seats in Saurashtra region compared to the BJP’s 20.

The BJP was ahead in 26 seats (Congress 9) in South Gujarat. In Central Gujarat, BJP nominees had forged ahead in 27 constituencies (Congress 12) and in 31 seats in North Gujarat (Congress 21).

It was the first Assembly election in Gujarat after Modi became the Prime Minister.

In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has registered an overwhelming majority and was leading in 44 of the 68 seats and the Congress was ahead on 20 seats.

All the 68 Assembly seats in the hill state went to the polls on November 9 to decide the fate of 337 candidates including Chief Ministerial nominees Virbhadra Singh (Congress) and Prem Kumar Dhumal (Bharatiya Janata Party).

A total of 37,83,580 people voted — a record 75.28 per cent polling.

While most exit polls indicated the BJP’s return to power with an absolute majority, political observers said it was a neck-and-neck contest between the Congress and the BJP.

The state has alternately elected Congress and BJP governments since 1985. In 2012, the Congress won 36 seats and the BJP 26. Independents won six seats.

(With inputs from agencies)