Gujarat Assembly polls: Voting in two phases, dates announced; stage set for triangular contest

NEW DELHI: The Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases. The voting will be held on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes is on December 8. There are a total of 4.9 crore voters in 51,782 polling stations. Among these, 3,24,47 are first-time voters.

The tenure of Bhupendrabhai Patel's government will end on February 18 next year. In the 182-member assembly, BJP has 111 MLAs and Congress has 62 MLAs. BJP has been ruling the state for the last 27 years.

The stage is set for a triangular fight in Gujarat polls this time. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has come up with a serious challenge to BJP and Congress. Although the BJP leadership believes that they will get another term, there are reports that the party is concerned about gatherings in the programs of AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

A few days ago, Arvind Kejriwal had said that the image of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha should also be included in the currency notes, which is likely to be a move aimed at the Gujarat elections.

Opinion polls are in favor of the BJP. But the leadership is afraid that the Morbi accident can cause a setback for the party. The opposition had blamed the government for the accident.

The date of assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh was announced last month. The election will be held on November 12. The counting of votes in Himachal too is on December 8.