Gujarat 2-phase Assembly poll on Dec 1, 5; counting on Dec 8

The Election Commission of India on Thursday (November 3) announced the dates for the Gujarat Assembly election 2022.

Gujarat will vote in two phases on December 1 and 5 and the counting of votes will be on December 8, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said at a press conference in Delhi.

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The term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18 next year.

Nomination process from Nov 5

In the first phase, voting will be held for 89 seats, and the remaining 93 seats in the second phase.

The filing of nominations will begin on November 5 and end on November 14 in the first phase and for the second phase, the nomination filing period is from November 10 to 17.

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Withdrawal of candidature is allowed till November 17 for the first phase and till November 21 for the second phase.

There are 142 General, 17 SC, and 23 ST constituencies in Gujarat. Over 4.9 crore electors are registered as of October 10. A total of 51,782 polling stations will be there in the state, said CEC Kumar.

For enhanced voting experience, 1,274 polling stations will be completely managed by women polling and security staff, the CEC added.

“As a unique initiative to facilitate voters and ensure ‘No voter to be left behind’, a polling station will be set up in a shipping container at Aliabet in the Bharuch district with AMF (Assured Minimum Facilities) for 217 voters. Earlier voters travelled 82 kms to vote,” said Kumar.

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“ECI team is going to the last mile to ensure inclusive and participative elections. Our teams trek difficult terrains, and forests and travel by boat, to reach polling stations set up in remote areas to ensure,” he added.

In the last polls, the BJP had pulled off its sixth consecutive victory winning 99 seats while the Congress bagged 77 seats. In percentage terms, the BJP had polled 49.05% of the valid votes, while Congress got 42.97%.

The Congress witnessed a series of defections after the Assembly elections and the BJP increased its tally in the House to 111. The Congress numbers were reduced to 62.

Polling stations for Siddis

Polling stations will be set up by EC in Madhupur Jambur in Gir Somnath district for the Siddis. Siddis are descendants of East African people who came to India during the 14th and 17th centuries and now reside here and are our proud voters, informed Kumar.

Earlier, citing the convention followed in 2017, the poll panel had not announced the Gujarat election schedule when it came out with Himachal Pradesh poll dates last month. While elections in Himachal Pradesh will be held in a single phase on November 12, the counting of votes will take place on December 8.

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By keeping the counting date for Himachal Pradesh nearly a month after the polling, the commission had given a clear hint that votes for Gujarat would also be counted on December 8.

In 2017, the polls in the two states were announced on different dates but the counting took place together on December 18. Floods in Gujarat had led the EC to hold polls in the state after the Himachal Pradesh poll schedule was announced.

BJP’s long reign

The Congress won the first three Assembly elections in 1962, 1967 and 1972 in Gujarat. In the elections fought after imposition of Emergency in 1975, it lost to an alliance of parties led by Morarji Desai, the Jan Sangh and rebel Congress leader Chimanbhai Patel’s Kimlop party.

Two subsequent elections in 1980 and 1985 were won by the Congress. In 1990, the Janata Dal and the BJP emerged as dominant forces.

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The BJP has won every Assembly election from 1995 onwards. It has been in power since, except for a brief period from 1996 to 1998 when its leader Shankarsinh Vaghela rebelled and formed a government with the Congress support.

This time, it will be a three-way battle in Gujarat between the BJP, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress.

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