The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday gained an early lead in the by-polls in Gujarat as it took lead on seven out of eight seats.

According to the Election Commission, the BJP was leading on seven seats while the Congress was leading on one seat.

The by-elections in Gujarat was necessitated on eight seats after the sitting Congress MLAs resigned ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls held in June this year. Five of them later joined the BJP and are contesting the bypolls on the saffron party ticket.

The eight Assembly seats that went for by-polls consist — Abdasa, Dangs, Dhari, Gadhada, Kaprada, Karjan, Limbdi and Morbi.

Going by the exit polls, the BJP is expected to perform well in Gujarat at it has been predicted to win six to seven seats out of eight..