Gujarat Assembly elections to be held in 2 phases, results on Dec 8

EC rubbishes Opposition parties' charge that it delayed announcing dates

Voting for the Gujarat Assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5, respectively, and the results will be announced on December 8, along with those of Himachal Pradesh, the Election Commission of India (EC) said on Thursday.

Voting for 89 of the 182 Assembly seats will be held on December 1 and the rest on December 5, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said.

The EC rejected charges made by the Congress that it had “delayed” announcing the dates to give the BJP an advantage. Kumar said the Gujarat election dates were well within schedule. “The Election Commission’s impartiality is a proud legacy. We are 100 per cent impartial,” he said. However, he did say that the Morbi bridge collapse was one reason the announcement was delayed.

The Congress and other Opposition parties accused the election body of not announcing the dates along with Himachal Pradesh last month to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi time to finish his campaign in Gujarat before the model code of conduct comes into force.

Kumar said: “Some try to create a negative atmosphere... Actions and outcomes speak louder than words. At times, those parties critical of the commission have got surprise results in elections. There is no third umpire in this case but the results are testimony.”

The model code of conduct has kicked in and will be in place for 38 days.

On allegations of a delay, Kumar said: “The tenure of the Gujarat Assembly is till February 18, so there is still time. There is a 72-day gap between the counting day and the day the Gujarat Assembly’s term gets over.”

Kumar added that several factors were considered while deciding the polls – weather, the date of the last term of the Assembly, the tradition of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh results being announced together, among others.

With the dates announced, all the political parties are readying their candidate lists. Manoj Sorathiya, general secretary of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) state unit, said: “Tomorrow (Friday), AAP will announce the CM candidate for the upcoming Assembly elections through public opinion.” Twenty-two AAP candidates for the elections will also be announced on Friday. More than 80 names have already been made public.

The BJP state unit went into a huddle with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel holding meetings with other party leaders. It is expected to announce around 40 names on Friday.

The Congress will meet on Friday to finalise its list.

In Gujarat, the BJP is looking for a sixth consecutive win, with the AAP looking to play spoilsport in what is traditionally a Congress-BJP fight. In 2017, the BJP won 99 seats and Congress 77, but after a series of defections, the BJP’s tally went up to 111.