WATCH: Gujarat & Himachal Pradesh Election Results with Arnab Goswami LIVE on Republic

The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh will be declared today with the counting of votes scheduled to begin at 8 am. Arnab Goswami is #LIVE on Republic with the fastest & most accurate trends and the sharpest analysis. Here's where you can watch the final Elections of 2022 unfold:

Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Key Bypolls: What's at stake?

While the BJP is the odds-on favourite to retain power in Gujarat for another record-setting term, Himachal Pradesh is witnessing a close contest between the saffron party and Congress in a state which has not voted a ruling party back into power for decades. Furthermore, the AAP is in the fray in both states with Arvind Kejriwal leading the campaign, though the exit poll projections have been underwhelming. 

According to the Republic-PMARQ exit polls, BJP is projected to win 128-148 seats out of 182 seats in Gujarat whereas 34-39 seats in Himachal's 68 constituencies. Congress, on the other hand, is expected to win 30-42 seats in Gujarat and 28-33 seats in Himachal.

Notably, results of bypolls in six assembly constituencies in five states will also be announced today. These constituencies are the parliamentary seat in Mainpuri, Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur in Chhattisgarh.

Every trend, every result and all the analysis will be live on Republic with Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and his team of experts. You can keep up with all the updates by tuning in to Republic's live stream on YouTube and across all social media handles.

The battle for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh

BJP has managed to retain power in Gujarat since it first ruled the state in 1990 and is now heading toward being the longest-serving party in the state. If the exit polls turn out to be correct, the BJP would surpass West Bengal's Communist Party of India (CPM) which as the longest-ruling party ruled the state for 34 years (from 1977 to 2011). In the previous assembly elections in 2017, the BJP won 99 seats whereas Congress emerged as the second-largest party with 77 seats.

As for Himachal, BJP won in 2017 by bagging 44 seats and Congress again was the runner-up with 21 seats. Both the parties, however, have ruled on a rotation every five years since 1993 till incumbent CM Jai Ram Thakur's appointment in 2017.