The Congress has given a morale boosting performance in Gujarat and the battle will now be for five states in 2018, senior party leader P Chidambaram said today.

In a series of tweets, Chidambaram congratulated the Bharatiya Janata Party for winning the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh but said the Congress has returned a morale boosting performance in Gujarat under Rahul Gandhi.

"The battle is now joined for five states in 2018," he said.

Assembly elections are due in Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Mizoram in 2018.

The former finance and home minister said there is an electoral victory and there is a political victory in the results of the two states.

"Need I say who is the political victor in Gujarat. What a victory! In Gujarat, the winner limped across the finish line with a young sprinter close on his heels," he tweeted.

The BJP won the Gujarat Assembly polls for a record sixth straight victory today, and evicted the Congress in Himachal Pradesh.  -- PTI