Gujarat poll dates announcement, Voting in two phases on Dec 1 and 5; results on 8

Guwahati: The Gujarat Assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5, and the results will be declared on December 8, the Election Commission announced Thursday. Of the 182 seats in the legislative Assembly, 89 will go to polls in the first phase and 93 in the second. There are over 4.9 crore electors eligible to vote this year. There will be more than 51,000 polling stations set up, including more than 34,000 in rural areas.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, before announcing the schedule, expressed condolences to the victims of the Morbi bridge tragedy. He said there was a delay in announcing the poll schedule due to the accident that killed at least 135 people.

The term of the Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18, 2023. With the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect in the state. The Centre has deployed 160 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces ahead of the polls.

The much awaited, high-stakes elections are seeing a three-cornered contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The BJP has been in power in the state — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home turf — for over two decades. In the last election in 2017, the BJP won 99 seats, while the Congress won 77, winning 49.05 per cent and 42.97 per cent of the votes, respectively. Over the years, the Congress’ tally reduced to 62, while the BJP’s increased to 111.