Counting for Guj bypolls tomorrow, CM Patel faces acid test

Counting of votes for nine Assembly and one Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held tomorrow, with stakes being high for BJP and the state chief minister Anandi Patel, who succeeded Narendra Modi, facing a litmus test of her leadership to check opposition Congress.
A total of 45 candidates were in the fray for nine Assembly seats while four contestants were vying to win Vadodara seat, which was vacated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has retained Varanasi Lok Sabha seat.
However, the direct fight is between BJP and Congress which is trying to leverage absence of Modi in the state to its advantage.

The Assembly seats include Maninagar, vacated by Modi as MLA, Deesa, Tankara, Khambhaila, Mangrol, Talaja, Anand, Matar and Talaja -- all held by BJP.
The state recorded a 50.95 per cent voter turnout in the bypolls held on September 13.
The by-elections became necessary as sitting BJP MLAs resigned from their seats after being elected as MPs in recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
Patel, the first woman chief minister of the state, had made whirlwind campaigning for BJP for the byelections.