Page 6 - Gujarat Elections

All set for 1st phase of Gujarat polls in 89 seats; 788 candidates in fray

Voting will be held on Thursday for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections in 89 seats spread across 19 districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of the state where 788 candidates are in the fray. Campaigning for the first phase of the elections in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state ended at 5 pm on Tuesday. Voting will be held between 8 am and 5 pm on Thursday across 14,382 polling stations, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said in a release. Out of the 89 seats going to polls in the first phase, the BJP won 48 in the 2017 election, the Congress had won 40, while one seat was bagged by an independent candidate. Apart from the BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), 36 other political outfits, including the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) have also fielded candidates in various seats which will go to polls in the first phase. The BJP and Congress

Gujarat too will have free electricity from March: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann

Exuding confidence in the victory of Aam Aadmi Party in the Gujarat polls, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said that the northwestern state will give free electricity from March

Gujarat Assembly polls: FIR against BJP candidate for 'liquor' remark

In an embarrassment for BJP in Gujarat ahead of the Assembly elections, a candidate allegedly said liquor can be sold openly, leading to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against him for indulging in "corrupt practices". Gujarat has a sumptuary law in force that proscribes the manufacture, storage, sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The FIR was lodged against Latubhai Parghi, the BJP's nominee from the Danta seat in Banaskantha district, by a poll official after a video of a public meeting addressed by him on November 26 went viral, police said on Wednesday. Parghi purportedly told a group of women they will be allowed to sell liquor openly in a basket and need not hide it. "Liquor will be made available without the need for secrecy," he said, as per the FIR. The complaint was lodged against Parghi by Returning Officer Harshaben Raval at Danta police station on Tuesday. The complainant provided the police with the CD containing the video of the speech m

Centre, other states can also consider anti-radicalisation cell, says Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has downplayed AAP's challenge in Gujarat polls, claiming Arvind Kejriwal's party may not even open its account, and said the BJP state unit's announcement of setting up anti-radicalisation cell is a good initiative that can be considered by other states and the Centre. In an interview to PTI, Shah described Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, all-round development of Gujarat during his tenure as the state chief minister and the implementation of zero appeasement policy as the main reasons for people repeatedly reposing faith in the BJP over the last 27 years. The BJP will register an unprecedented victory in Gujarat. People have full faith in our party and our leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Shah, who has been crisscrossing the state and addressing five rallies a day in the run-up to the two-phase polls on December 1 and 5. On the question of AAP entering Gujarat assembly elections, the BJP leader said, Every party has a right to cont

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Gujarat polls: Cong focuses on Bharat Jodo Yatra; AAP leads on social media

With less than one week left for the high octane poll battle in Gujarat to end, the ruling BJP and new player AAP have intensified their online campaigning to reach out to the voters active on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. At the same time, the Congress' main social media handles have focused more on promoting Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' than the party's campaigning for the two-phase assembly elections on December 1 and 5. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. An analysis of Facebook accounts and Twitter handles last week (Nov 21-27) of the three parties showed that Congress' handles were more attentive to Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', as 75 per cent of the total posts were on the yatra. Less than 20 per cent of the posts on its Facebook page and the Twitter handle were on the party's campaigning in Gujarat elections. On the other hand, about 40 per cent of the posts from the Bhartiya Janata Party's main Facebook page and Twitter handle

Today marks last day of campaigning for 1st phase of Gujarat Assembly polls

The campaigning for the first phase of elections in 89 out of the total 182 seats in Gujarat will end on Tuesday. Elections for the first phase will be held on December 1. Voting for the remaining 93 seats will be held on December 5. Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda and Union minister Smriti Irani will on Tuesday campaign in Bhavnagar and Gandhidham (Kutch district), respectively, for the BJP candidates contesting in the first phase. Among notable candidates in the first phase is Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) chief ministerial face Isudan Gadhvi, who is contesting from Khambhalia seat in Devbhumi Dwarka district. Former Gujarat minister Parshottam Solanki, six-time MLA Kunwarji Bavaliya, Morbi 'hero' Kantilal Amrutiya, Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's wife Rivaba and Gujarat AAP president Gopal Italia are also among the prominent candidates in the fray for the first phase of the state Assembly elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Nadda and

AAP's CM face Gadhvi locked in triangular contest in Gujarat's Khambhalia

The contest in Khambhalia has emerged as one to watch out for after the Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi decided to contest from the seat where he is locked in a keen triangular fight with incumbent Congress MLA Vikram Madam and BJP's Mulubhai Bera. A popular Gujarati news anchor before entering politics by joining the AAP, Gadhvi enjoys a good image and has emerged as his party's main campaigner in the state but social equations in the constituency pose a challenge to him, poll watchers say. Both Madam, a seasoned politician and also a former Lok Sabha MP, and Bera, a former state government minister, come from the Ahir community, which is the largest caste in the seat where Muslim votes are also significant. Poll watchers say caste will play an important role in deciding voting preference and the AAP leader, whose community Gadhvi is numerically much less, has a disadvantage and Muslims may prefer the Congress. However, Gadhvi has projected himself as t

'Economy grew 1 position under economist PM, is 5th largest under chaiwala'

With just two days remaining before Gujarat goes to polls in the first phase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday escalated his tirade against Congress accusing it of stopping armed forces from acting against terrorism when it was in power due to vote bank politics and took a jibe at former PM Manmohan Singh over the slow pace of economy in ten years of the UPA rule. Modi said the country's economy climbed up by only one position to reach the tenth spot despite a renowned economist being the PM for ten years but it became the fifth largest in the last eight years under a government led by a "chaiwala". He also slammed the Congress for its "divide and rule" strategy over the participation of anti-Narmada activist Medha Patkar in Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. The prime minister addressed rallies in support of BJP candidates at Palitana, Anjar, Jamnagar, and Rajkot seeking another term for the BJP in his home state where the party has been in power for the last 27 years. The ra

Scuffle between workers of AAP and BJP during Kejriwal's Surat road show

A scuffle broke out between supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday during Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's roadshow in Surat city in poll-bound Gujarat. The incident occurred in Katargam locality in the evening after BJP workers chanted 'Modi, Modi' when the convoy of vehicles in Kejriwal's roadshow was passing through the area. Kejriwal claimed a stone was hurled when the roadshow was passing. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-3), Pinakin Parmar, said Kejriwal was provided Z-plus security in the 4-km roadshow with CAPF (Central Armed Police Force). "The rally passed off peacefully. No incident of hurling of stones took place. A minor scuffle broke out between party workers but the police controlled the situation," he said. "When we were moving, their (apparently referring to BJP) supporters threw a stone at us. I was thinking had they done any work in the last 27 years they would not have needed to throw stones. I would like

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Gujarat polls: AIMIM seeks to cement 2021 civic elections gains in Godhra

After an impressive show in last year's civic body polls in Godhra, a communally-sensitive town in Gujarat, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM is now trying to build upon those gains in this Assembly seat in the upcoming state elections, banking on the minority base and division of votes of other candidates. The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) had won seven seats in the Godhra Municipal Council (GMC) polls last year and even tied up with independents to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its ideological foe, out of power. Independent candidate Sanjay Soni became the chairman of the GMC with the support of the AIMIM in February 2021, but severed ties with it in November that year after getting the support of the BJP which has 18 members in the 44-member house. In the upcoming Assembly polls, the AIMIM is making efforts to cement its position further, and aims to win the Godhra seat, currently held by the BJP. Godhra town in Panchmahal district in eastern Gujarat has h

PM Modi to address rallies in Kutch, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Rajkot today

Ahead of Gujarat assembly polls, PM Modi is set to address four public meetings in the state

What 'teaching a lesson' in Gujarat means

The national security paradigm is another device to herd voters behind the BJP, which is projected as the last line of defence between a secure India and its perceived enemies

BJP sure of repeat show in Kutch as Congress slugs it out, AAP splits votes

The BJP is confident of maintaining its winning streak in Kutch district in Gujarat Assembly polls even as the Congress is carrying out a silent campaign in rural areas and the Aam Aadmi Party is setting the stage for a three-cornered fight by throwing its hat in the ring. The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is contesting in two minority-dominated seats. Kutch, which goes to polls in the first phase on December 1, has six Assembly constituencies - Abdasa, Bhuj, Rapar- all bordering Pakistan, and Mandvi, Anjar and Gandhidham. The district has around 16 lakh voters spread across the six constituencies, out of which male and female voters are equally proportionate. Muslims comprise around 19 per cent of the total electorate, whereas the Dalits comprise around 12 per cent, and the Patels, including the Leuvas and Kadvas, constitute about 10.5 per cent. The Kshatriya and the Koli communities comprise around 6.5 per cent and 5.2 per cent of the electorate, ...

Congress, like-minded parties remain silent on big terror attacks: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said Gujarat and the country need to be "alert" about Congress and like-minded parties which keep mum on "big terrorist attacks" to not offend their vote bank, and also accused the grand old party of not respecting the tribal community. In a veiled attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), he urged the people of Gujarat not to commit the sin of letting those, who gave election tickets to the anti-Narmada dam project forces in the past, set foot in the state. The prime minister hit the campaign trail in Gujarat on Sunday, where he addressed rallies in Kheda district, Netrang, a tribal area in Bharuch district, and Surat city, where he also led a massive roadshow. Assembly elections in Gujarat are scheduled for December 1 and 5. Speaking in Kheda, he said, "Terrorism is not over yet and the politics of the Congress has not also changed. The fear of terrorism will remain till appeasement politics continues." "Congress views terrorism from the prism o

Gujarat elections: Here's a comparative analysis of crorepati candidates

The average assets per candidate contesting the Gujarat Assembly elections in Phase I is Rs 2.88 crore

Congress, like-minded parties see terrorism as shortcut to success: PM Modi

Remembering the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it is important to save Gujarat and the country from Congress and like-minded parties which keep mum on "big terrorist attacks" to not offend their vote bank. Addressing a rally in Kheda district in Gujarat where Assembly elections are scheduled for December 1 and 5, the prime minister said Congress and many like-minded parties view terrorism as a shortcut to achieving success. "Terrorism is not over yet and the politics of the Congress has not also changed. The fear of terrorism will remain till appeasement politics continues. Congress views terrorism from the prism of vote bank, Not only Congress but many like-minded parties have come up now who view terrorism as a shortcut to achieve success and this small party's hunger for power is even bigger, he said. The prime minister said the mouths of these parties remain "locked when big terrorist attacks take place so that their vote bank is not ...

Kejriwal promises old pension scheme by Jan 31 ahead of Gujarat polls

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday made a written assertion that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will form government in Gujarat after the upcoming Assembly polls. He also urged government employees in Gujarat to back the AAP while promising implementation of the old pension scheme for them by January 31 next year. Addressing a press conference in Surat, AAP national convener Kejriwal said his predictions for the Delhi and Punjab Assembly elections came true, and the same will happen in Gujarat as well. He claimed people are so scared of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that they shy away from openly admitting support for the AAP in the Gujarat Assembly elections, scheduled in two phases on December 1 and 5. "I am going to make a prediction in writing in front of you all...Note down the prediction that the AAP is going to form government in Gujarat. After 27 years of misgovernance, the citizens of Gujarat will get relief from these people (BJP)," Kejriwal said. He the

AAP's 'Namoona' true supporter of terrorism, says UP CM in Gujarat

In an apparent attack on AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said that the "namoona" (sample) that has come from Delhi is a "true supporter of terrorism"