Gujarat election result 2017: Congress is king among rural electorates

No doubt ruling BJP successfully drubbed the anti-incumbency after 22 years of rule and withstood the caste alliance of Congress. But the breakdown of numbers tells a different tale.

Out of 55 seats of urban Gujarat, the BJP has won 43 seats and Congress has put a poor show with 12 wins. Overall, it shows that GST and demonetization did not affect BJP's prospects in urban areas.

However, Out of 127 rural seats, the BJP has secured 56 constituencies and Congress has dominated the scene with 71 wins. This proves that BJP's popularity among urban votes still remained. Rural voters are quite impressed with Congress' approach.

In 2012, the BJP registered urban vote share of 59.5 percent, while the Congress had 32.8 percent urban population voting for them. Cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodra contributed to BJP's victory.

Of the 48.3 percent overall vote share that the BJP won, urban voters alone constituted 60 percent. Congress fared better than the BJP in rural areas in 2012. Congress' vote share was 42. 9 per cent with 49, and BJP 42.1 per cent with 44 wins.