Ahmedabad. Voting is to be held next month for 182 seats in the Gujarat Assembly. In the first phase, voting will be held on 89 seats on December 1. Voting will be held on the remaining 93 seats on December 5. In the 89 seats where voting is to be held in the first phase, 788 candidates have filed their papers. There are 70 women among them. Of the total 788 candidates, 339 are independents. BJP, which has been in power for 27 years, its rival Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have fielded candidates in all the seats. Apart from these, BSP has fielded candidates on 57 seats and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM on 6 seats.
According to the Election Commission, a total of 1362 people had filed nominations for 89 seats. After investigation, their number had come down to 999. After the withdrawal of nominations on November 17, now only 788 candidates are in the fray. Voting day is drawing near. In such a situation, BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party have increased their election activities. PM Narendra Modi will start campaigning from today. He will hold 25 public meetings before the first round of elections. Modi has 8 election public meetings in the next 3 days.
Aam Aadmi Party convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann from his party and Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia are continuously visiting Gujarat. Election rallies and road-shows of Kejriwal, Mann and Sisodia have taken place at many places. Kejriwal has claimed that Congress will get 5 seats in the elections. At the same time, BJP and Congress claim that Aam Aadmi Party is not going to get a single seat in Gujarat. It is being told that on November 22, Rahul Gandhi will go to Gujarat and campaign from Bharat Jodo Yatra. The results of the election will come on December 8. Only then will it be known whether the BJP once again hoists the flag of victory in Gujarat, or the voters of the state make someone else their choice.