Ahmedabad/Shimla: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fought off a resurgent Congress on Monday to hold on to Gujarat for a record sixth term and stayed on course to pick up an easy win in Himachal Pradesh.

The BJP's victory margin in Gujarat was reduced -- less than 105 seats from 115 last time -- as the Congress put up a spirited show with the reservation-centric support from traditional BJP voters Patidars and OBCs. The grand old party bettered its score and was likely to get around 80, nearly 20 up from 2012.

Analysts felt the Congress might have missed the bus in Gujarat given the anti-incumbency wave, the Patidar and OBC disenchantment, farmer restlessness, lack of growth etc. The Congress couldn't put up a credible local face either. A tense BJP had sniffed the fight and, therefore, roped in Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the last leg of the campaign blitzkrieg. 

In Himachal Pradesh, which has alternated between the BJP and the Congress for decades, the BJP cruised to a two-third majority win with nearly 45 seats in the 68-constituency Assembly. But the question is who will head the BJP government in Himachal as chief minister designate Prem Kumar Dhumal was trailing till reports last came in.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel trumped their Congress opponents after trailing initially.

Prominent OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, now with the Congress, and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani have also won. Top Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil was, however, trailing.

The Gujarat electionsinfo-icon were held in two phases on December 9 and 14 and the average voter turnout was 68 per cent, slightly lower than 2012's 71 per cent.

In 2012, the BJP won 115 seats out of total 182 seats while the Congress won 61 in Gujarat. BJP has been in power in Gujarat since 1995.

After polling, Election Commission data had shown constituencies dominated by the Patidar community - which has since the 2015 quota agitation turned against the BJP -- saw a turnout of nearly 75 per cent during voting.

This could have been an indication of the electoral manifestation of Patidar anger against the ruling BJP. 

Hardik Patel, who led the demand for reservation for his community, openly declared his support for the Congress. The Congress banked heavily on the troika of angry young men of Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore and Jignesh Mevani, leaders of the Patidar, OBC and Dalit communities.

The BJP had derided the alliance between the OBCs and the Patels as self-contradictory as the two communities would be competing for quota benefits with each other.

Four out of five exit polls predicted BJP would retain Gujarat, but with a reduced margin. One predicted a sweep and was obviously wrong.

People in Himachal Pradesh have been alternating between the Congress and the BJP in Assembly elections every five years. True to that trend, the exit polls this year predicted a BJP sweep.

In Himachal Pradesh in 2012, the Congress defeated BJP and won an outright majority with 36 of the 68 seats under the leadership of Virbhadra Singh. The BJP got 26 seats whereas its breakaway faction HLP won 1.

The BJP in Himachal Pradesh has vowed to work on women's safety and to "save the state from the Virbhadra government's mafia rule".

Himachal Pradesh registered a record vote of 74.61 per cent, breaking the previous best of 75.28 per cent in 2003.