Ahmedabad: Describing the polling for 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat as "absolutely peaceful", Union Law Minister and national BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) spokesman Arun Jaitley today (Apr 20, 2004) said that people here have given a "fitting reply" to critics of the State, who had unleashed a campaign to malign its image.

"Elections today have passed off absolutely peaceful in Gujarat. No voter can complain of being pressurised. Through peaceful voting, people have given a fitting reply to those critics who had unleashed a campaign (to malign its image)," Jaitley told reporters in Ahmedabad after the end of polling.

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Jaitley exuded confidence that BJP will "improve" upon its tally of 21 of the total 26 Lok Sabha seats but hastened to add that he did not want to go into any numbers.

"BJP's privacy and the seat-wise margin compared to Congress will be retained," Jaitley added.