The announcement of Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh has been today welcomed by BJP and Congress with BJP expressing hope that it would retain power in both the states and Congress saying it is quite confident about the poll outcomes.

The BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that the party is in power in both the states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and they are very confident of coming back to power. He claimed Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh governments are free from corruption as far as the image of the chief ministers is concerned.

Congress spokesperson P C Chacko said that the party is quite confident about the outcome in these two states. He said the elections would provide it with an opportunity to reach out to the people on the issue of FDI in retail and convince them that it was a win-win situation for all concerned.