The elections in 2012 were scheduled for seven Vidhan Sabhas and several local elections were also conducted. The 14th presidential election to elect the 13th president of the republic was also held in 2012. The tenure of the legislative assemblies of Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were to expire during the year. The Election Commission of India issued the dates for the elections in Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Goa to take place in the first quarter of the year. Whereas the elections were held in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat in the last quarter of the year.
In the first rounds of elections, Manipur and Punjab resulted in an incumbent government victory; while in Uttar Pradesh and Goa there was a heavy anti-incumbent victory; and Uttarakhand resulted in a hung assembly with an anti-incumbent plurality and in the second round, in Himachal Pradesh, BJP led by incumbent Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal lost due to a huge anti-incumbency wave arising mainly out of corruption and lack of good governance. Congress veteran leader Virbhadra Singh took oath for record sixth term as next Chief Minister. In the western state of Gujarat incumbent Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in power since 2002, was running for his fourth term. Elections, held in two phases, reverted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in power in Gujarat since 1995, with 119 seat out of 182.
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