Shimla/Gandhinagar: Bharatiya Janata Party took strong leads in Gujarat and made a significant lead ahead of key rival Congress in Himachal Pradesh as counting of votes for the Assembly polls held in the two states is currently underway.

As per trends at 9.03 am, in the 182-seat Assembly, BJP is marching ahead in 139 seats. The Congress is leading in 37.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party is leading in just 7 seats.

If the momentum is maintained then BJP will be returning to power in Gujarat for the seventh straight term.

In Himachal Pradesh, Congress and BJP are engaged in a tight battle with the saffron brigade leading in 34 seats.

The Congress is leading in 32.

In Gujarat, elections took place in 182 seats and in Himachal voters decided the fates of candidates contesting in 68 seats.

The elections to the 182 member state assembly in Gujarat were held in two phases- December 1 and December 5- with a total voter turnout of 66.38 per cent.

The state, that traditionally has remained a battlefield between BJP and Congress, has witnessed the entry of a third party- the Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party for the first time making the elections a triangular contest.

Exit polls have predicted a clear victory for the BJP.

The BJP had won 99 seats and the Congress had won 77 seats in 2017.

In Himachal Pradesh, the elections in the hilly state were conducted in one single phase on November 12. The state registered a record voter turnout of 75.6 per cent in the polls.

The current assembly, for which the elections were held in 2017, has 44 MLAs of the BJP, while the Congress has 21 MLAs. Two MLAs are Independents and the CPM has one seat.

Traditionally, the BJP and Congress have remained the two contenders to rule the state.

No incumbent government has returned to power in Himachal Pradesh for a second consecutive term since 1982.