New Delhi: Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5 with the counting of votes on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Thursday.Of the total 182 assembly seats in Gujarat, voting for 89 seats will be held on December 1 and the balance 93 seats on December 5.Withdrawal of candidature will be allowed till November 17 for the first phase and till November 21 for the second phase.Schedule for GE to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat. #GujaratElections2022 #ECI pic.twitter.com/0A6CSUIJV5— Election Commission of India #SVEEP (@ECISVEEP) November 3, 2022Kumar appeared to take on criticism that the EC has received for delaying the polls’ schedule announcement.“Three more assembly elections are due before March. A number of factors are taken into account for deciding poll schedule,” he said.He also appeared to refer to the Morbi bridge collapse and said there was, “Some delay in announcing Gujarat elections due to the recent tragedy.”The Congress said the Election Commission must give an explanation to the people of the country as to why it announced the polls to Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat assemblies on separate dates even though the votes for both would be counted on the same day. Congress’ Gujarat in-charge Raghu Sharma alleged that the BJP got time to hold several rallies on official expense and misused public resources to the hilt in Gujarat.Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, he said, “Want to thank Election Commission for announcing Gujarat polls finally despite BJP-led government’s pressure.”“The Election Commission should give an explanation as a constitutional body that while counting of votes for elections in both states will be on the same day, why elections were announced on different dates,” Sharma said.Gujarat has a 182 member assembly. BJP had pulled off its sixth consecutive victory winning 99 seats in the last polls, while the Congress put up a spirited fight by bagging 77 seats.In percentage terms, the BJP had polled 49.05% of the valid votes, while Congress had polled 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.The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has trained its sights on Gujarat and has already entered the election mode. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has made several trips to Gujarat in his bid to make inroads for the AAP in the state after a successful foray in Punjab.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been visiting Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh frequently to inaugurate and launch several projects.Also, these elections along with a few more in other states in 2023 are being seen as crucial in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when Modi and BJP will bid for their third consecutive government at the Union government.(With PTI inputs)
