The second and final phase of the Gujarat assembly election will be held on Monday after intense campaigning by all the political parties across 14 central and northern districts of the state. Voting will be held on 93 seats in which a total 833 candidates are in the fray from 61 political parties, including the high-stakes battle between the BJP, Congress and the new poll entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
After the first phase of voting for 89 seats in Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat regions held on December 1, voting will be held for the remaining 93 seats in the 182-seat assembly. According to the state election commission, the nominees also include 285 independents. In the December 1 phase 1 polling, an average voter turnout of 63.31 per cent was recorded.
BJP chief CR Patil on Sunday said that the party will break all the previous records in the Assembly polls to retain power whereas Congress incharge Raghu Sharma cited the “pattern” of the first phase polling and said the grand old party will win the state elections.
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The BJP and the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP are contesting in all 93 seats. The Congress is contesting in 90 seats and its alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has fielded candidates in two seats. The Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) has fielded 12 candidates and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 44.
Key Constituencies and Candidates
The polling will be held in 93 Assembly segments spread across Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Gandhinagar and other districts. The key seats include Ghatlodia (in Ahmedabad district), the constituency of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. The constituency in Ahmedabad is a stronghold of the saffron party and has produced two BJP chief ministers incumbent Bhupendra Patel and Anandiben Patel. In 2017, Bhupendra Patel won with a record margin of 1.17 lakh votes against Congress candidate Shashikant Bhurabhai despite the Hardik Patel-led Patidar quota agitation in 2015. This year, CM Patel is fighting against Congress Rajya Sabha MP Amee Yagnik.
Viramgam seat (also in Ahmedabad) is being fought by firebrand Patidar leader Hardik Patel for BJP. Patel, former Congress state working president had walked out of the grand old party earlier this year and is a important candidate for the BJP. Patel is is up against Congress Rajya Sabha MP Amee Yagnik.
In the Gandhinagar South seat, Alpesh Thakor is fighting for the BJP. The Maninagar constituency in Ahmedabad which has been a bastion of the BJP since the 1990s is being fought by BJP’s Amulbhai Bhatt, Congress candidate CM Rajput and the AAP’s Vipulbhai Patel.
Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani is contesting as the Congress candidate from Vadgam seat in Banaskantha district, and Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly Sukhram Rathva is the nominee from Jetpur in Chhota Udepur district.
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BJP rebel Madhu Shrivastav is contesting as an independent candidate from Vaghodia seat in Vadodara district after being denied party ticket. Former BJP MLAs Dinu Solanki, Dhavalsinh Zala and Harshad Vasava are also in the fray as independents from Padra, Bayad and Nandod seats.
Apart from the candidates, Gujarat will also see high-profile list of voters which include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, AAP’s chief minister candidate Isudan Gadhvi, Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor. Indian cricket team members Irfan Pathan, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya are also on the list.
In the 2017 Assembly election, the ruling BJP won 51 of these seats, Congress 39, while three seats went to independent candidates. In central Gujarat, the BJP had bagged 37 seats, outnumbering the Congress which got 22. But in north Gujarat, the Congress had won 17 seats while the saffron party got 14.
Campaign Trail
The high-voltage campaigning for the second phase of the Gujarat polls ended on Saturday evening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJP’s campaign criss-crossing across the state on December 1 and 2, including two back-to-back road shows in Ahmedabad. He also addressed seven poll rallies in Panchmahal, Chhotaudepur, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Patan, Anand and Ahmedabad districts.
During the last leg of the campaign, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held rallies in Dholka, Mahudha and Khambhat towns, while Union minister Smriti Irani held roadshows in Modasa and Siddhpur towns of north Gujarat.
For AAP, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led roadshows and addressed rallies in the last two days. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed rallies in Ahmedabad and Waghodia.
Polling booths
Polling will be held at 14,975 booths for which 1.13 lakh election staffers have been deployed for the second phase of elections.
A total 2.51 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, including 1.29 crore men and 1.22 crore women. There are 5.96 lakh voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years, according to the Election Commission.
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