The state is poised to see a high-tension three-pronged struggle between the BJP, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The ruling BJP is not only facing a 27-year term, but also an aggressive Aam Aadmi Party, which is just emerging from its landslide victory in Punjab, and a resurgent Congress which is slowly closing the gap with the Saffron Party in terms of seats and vote share.
Voting for the first stage, for 89 seats in Saurashtra, Kutch and South Gujarat, took place on 1 December.
833 candidates in the fray
In the fray for the second round are 833 candidates from around 60 political parties, including the ruling BJP, opposition Congress, AAP and independents. The constituencies are those of Central and Northern Gujarat.
The candidates also include 285 independents, as per the state electoral body.
The BJP and the AAP led by Arvind Kejriwal contest all 93 seats. Congress is competing for 90 seats, and its alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has fielded candidates in two seats.
Among other parties, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) fielded 12 candidates and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 44.
The 93 seats assigned to the second phase are distributed in the districts of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Patan, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Aravali, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Anand, Kheda and Chhota Udaipur.
Among the key constituencies in the final round are Ghatlodia, which will determine the electoral fate of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel; Viramgam, where Patidar leader Hardik Patel will contest as the BJP candidate, and Gandhinagar South, where the Saffron Party has lined up Alpesh Thakor.
Tallelectoral campaign decibels
Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a whirlwind campaign for BJP candidates on December 1 and 2, including two consecutive road shows in Ahmedabad.
On Saturday, the BJP held roadshows and rallies of its key activists. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held demonstrations in the cities of Dholka, Mahudha and Khambhat on Saturday, while Union Minister Smriti Irani took part in roadshows in the cities of Modasa and Sidhpur in north Gujarat. For Congress, incumbent Telangana Congress president and former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin, AICC Gujarat chief Raghu Sharma, GPCC chairman Jagdish Thakor and other leaders campaigned in various constituencies on Saturday.
ICE’s Call: Mass Vote in Phase 2
Noting the low turnout in the first phase of the poll, the Electoral Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday appealed to the state’s voters to cast large numbers in the second phase. The vote percentage in the first phase of the 2017 general meeting poll was 66.79%. If vote rates in constituencies also matched voter turnout in the 2017 election, the average would have been over 65%, says an ICE statement. To address the trend of urban apathy across the country, the commission directed all chief executives to ensure targeted outreach actions to increase voter percentage, the statement added.
In numbers
The Election Commission has installed 26,409 voting booths and nearly 36,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used. Approximately 29,000 presidents and more than 84,000 poll workers were deployed to 14 districts to facilitate voting. According to Gujarat Chief Election Officer P Bharathi, out of a total of 26,409 polling stations, 93 are model polling booths, 93 are ecological booths, another 93 are run by Divyang, and 14 are run by youths. The webcasting will be carried out in 13,319 polling booths in the second phase.
A total of 2,51,58,730 voters will vote, of which 1,29,26,501 men, 1,22,31,335 women and 894 of the third gender.
PM WaysAmit Shah among prominent voters
Prominent names set to vote in the final round in Gujarat include Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Isudan Gadhvi, Gujarat Congress Speaker Jagdish Thakor and cricketers Irfan Pathan, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya. The Vadodara royal family, Congress leader and MP Shaktisinh Gohil and former Prime Minister Shankersinh Vaghela will also vote on Monday.
Vote counting will take place on 8 December (Thursday), coinciding with the date of the Himachal Pradesh assembly poll result.
