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.
Gujarat has a 182 member assembly and the 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 per cent of the valid votes, while Congress had polled 42.97 per cent.
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 Centre.
Himachal Pradesh elections
While elections in Himachal Pradesh will be held in a single phase on November 12, the counting of votes will take place on December 8.
By keeping the counting date for Himachal Pradesh nearly a month after the polling, the commission had given a clear hint that votes for Gujarat would also be counted on December 8.
What happened in 2017
In 2017, the polls in the two states were announced on different dates but the counting took place together on December 18.
Floods in Gujarat had led the EC to hold polls in the state after the Himachal Pradesh poll schedule was announced.
