999 nomination forms out of 1,362 valid for 1st phase of Gujarat polls

A total of 999 nomination forms have been found valid out of the 1,362 forms filed for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls in 89 seats, state election officials said on Wednesday.

Tuesday was the last day for the scrutiny of nomination forms for the first phase of elections to be held on December 1.

The Election Commission started accepting forms for the first phase on November 5 and the last date was November 14.

After due scrutiny, 999 forms were held valid, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer said in a release.

For the second phase of election to be held on December 5 in 93 seats, 341 nomination forms have been received so far since November 10 when the process began, it said.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, who is contesting from Ghatlodia seat in Ahmedabad where voting will be held in the second phase, will file his nomination on Wednesday.

The Assembly seats in Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, Kheda, Panchmahal, Dahod and Vadodara will be covered in the second phase.

The last date of filing of nomination forms for the second phase is November 17 and their scrutiny will be on November 18.

The last dates for the withdrawal of candidature for the first and second phases are November 17 and 21, respectively.

Out of the total 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat, elections will be held in 89 seats on December 1 and in 93 seats on December 5. The counting of votes for all the seats will be taken up on December 8.