Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 3: Polling for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5 and the counting of votes will be taken up along with the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections on December 8, the Election Commission of India announced on Thursday.
Voting in the first phase will be held in 89 constituencies on December 1 and in the remaining 93 constituencies in the second phase on December 5. The ECI had earlier announced a single phase polling in Himachal Pradesh on November 12.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, before announcing the poll schedule at a press conference in Delhi, paid tributes to the victims of the Morbi bridge tragedy that killed at least 135 people.
There will be more than 4.9 crore voters participating in the 2022 Assembly elections in Gujarat including about 4.6 lakhs first time voters casting their votes in 51,000 polling stations to be set up in the state. “For enhanced voting experience, 1,274 polling stations will be completely managed by women polling and security staff,” the ECI said.
He disagreed that the ECI deliberately delayed announcing the polling states in Gujarat which automatically bring with it imposition of model code of conduct barring the governments at the state and the centre from announcing any policy decisions or luring voters with attractive schemes.
The issue was raised because unlike in the past the announcement of the poll schedules for Himachal and Gujarat was this time separated even though the huge gap it had left in the polling dates and counting of votes made it abundantly clear that the dates were finalised beforehand but the announcement was held up. Mr Kumar pointed out that the tenure of the Gujarat Assembly is set to expire on February 18 next year and there was no delay in announcing the poll dates.
He said the political parties must explain why they selected candidates with criminal backgrounds, if any. He also said via the ‘Know Your Candidate’ App, voters would be informed about all the details, including criminal history and funds, of all the candidates. “If voters witness any untoward activities, like use of muscle power or money power, they can use the cVIGIL application to raise a complaint from the booth itself,” he said.
“As a unique initiative to facilitate voters, a polling station will be set up in a shipping container at Aliabet in the Bharuch district with AMF for 217 voters,” said the CEC.
Issue of notification: November 5 and November 10 for Phase 1 and Phase 2 respectively
Last Date of making nominations: November 14 and November 17 for Phase 1 and Phase 2 respectively
Scrutiny of nominations: November 15 and November 19 for Phase 1 and Phase 2 respectively
Last date for withdrawal of candidatures: November 17 and November 21 for Phase 1 and Phase 2 respectively
“Since 2017, there has been a 100% increase in transgender voters in Gujarat. There are 1,417 third-gender voters in the State. We’re also trying to have a reach in certain red-light areas,” he said.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, the ruling BJP had captured 99 seats and the Congress 77 with the BJP forming the government for the sixth consecutive time. In percentage terms, the BJP had polled 49.05% of the valid votes, while Congress had polled 42.97%. However, since then the Congress suffered a series of defections and the BJP increased its tally in the House to 111. The Congress numbers were reduced to 62. In addition, there are two Bharatiya Tribal Party members, and one each of the Nationalist Congress Party and an independent while five seats are currently vacant.
This time, however, the state is likely to witness a three-cornered contest with the Aam Aadmi Party also joining the fray in a big way. The AAP has already entered the election mode and the 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 PM Modi and BJP will bid for their third consecutive government at the Centre.
Soon after the election dates were announced, Kejriwal was quick to declare that his party would “definitely win”, and followed it up with a one-minute “message with love”, in Gujarati. The party later backed it up with a claim carrying huge numbers.
“I am your brother, part of your family. Give me one chance and I’ll give you free electricity; build schools and hospitals… and take you to Ayodhya’s Ram Temple,” said the Delhi Chief Minister whose party, upbeat after winning Punjab early this year, is hoping to make a dent in Modi’s home state, a BJP stronghold of over two decades.
“We are winning 90-95 seats (of the 182) now. And if this pace continues, we will win 140 to 150 seats,” AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said. The party is planning to field candidates for all the 182 seats unlike in 2017 when it fielded about 30 candidates but none could win. The AAP later saw some success in the Surat municipal corporation elections where the party has emerged as the main opposition.
The Congress, badly battered in the last five Assembly elections, maintained that its low-key campaign so far was a “thought-out strategy,” but the AAP claims it’s not in the contest this time. “The Congress is rejected and finished. What’s the point of even talking about it?” Mr Kejriwal has said. The party spokesperson built on that: “Congress and BJP play friendly matches” and this time the fight was only between the BJP and the AAP, the party claimed. Bu both the Congress and the BJP believed the AAP was still a non-starter in Gujarat.