Gujarat elections on 9 and 14 December, results on 18 December

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Wednesday said Gujarat elections will be held in two phases on 9 and 14 December while the results will be announced on 18 December.

The first phase of Gujarat elections will see polling in 89 seats while the second phase of polling will witness polling in the remaining 93 constituencies. The counting of votes will take place on 18 December together with the counting of votes with Himachal Pradesh which goes to polls on 9 November.

“After the Feb-March polls in Goa which saw the use of 100% VVPATs in all 40 constituencies, same will be done for Gujarat. All 50,128 polling stations will have VVPATs. Moreover, slips of one randomly chosen polling station will be counted to generate voter trust in the system,” said chief election commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti while announcing the Gujarat election dates on Wednesday.

The Gujarat elections this year is a direct contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, which is challenging the ruling party’s 22-year reign in the state. This is the first assembly election in the state since former chief minister Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014.

During the 2012 Gujarat elections, the BJP had won 115 seats with 47.8% while the immediate challenger, the Congress, had won 61 seats with 38.9% in the 182 member assembly.

The contest is important for the BJP because Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. Also, it was Modi’s development message as the state’s chief minister that was instrumental in making him the prime minister.

The ruling BJP has set a target of Mission 150+ in Gujarat elections.

Modi has already organized at least five road shows and public meetings in the state, while Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has also held a series of public meetings in the state.

The EC has come under severe criticism from opposition parties with some, including the Congress, alleging that the commission was being influenced by the Union government to delay the announcement of Gujarat election dates. Senior leaders of the Congress had said that EC is a constitutional authority and it should not allow the BJP to make last-minute poll promises before the model code of conduct is imposed.

“Whenever EC takes decision to finalise dates many factors need to be considered. The issue here was unprecedented rainfall in July and August. The chief secretary of Gujarat had written to us that seven districts of Gujarat were severely affected and 229 people had died in the floods. This only shows magnitude of the situation. We were requested to make schedule in a way that relief work doesn’t get affected,” Jyoti said.

Interestingly, Gujarat is witnessing a social churn with protests by the dominant Patel community, Dalits and a section of the other backward classes (OBCs). A major section of all the three communities have traditionally voted for the BJP, and it is for the first time that the party is facing a challenge from its own voter base.

The Gujarat elections is likely to figure in discussions during the winter session of Parliament, which is expected to start in November and continue till December. The opposition parties, especially the Congress, will also the issue of demonetisation and the alleged problems in the implementation of goods and services tax (GST). The two issues would also be taken up by the opposition parties during their Gujarat election campaign.