ECI declares date for Gujarat polls

The date for the next Gujrat assembly elections was declared by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday. There are 182 assembly constituencies in the Gujrat Legislative Assembly, with 92 being the majority mark.

The BJP, has ruled Gujarat for more than 20 years and wants to keep control of the state for another five. The Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are the other two significant political groups competing.

The Gujarat Legislative Assembly’s term ends on February 18 of the following year. According to the Constitution, a new Assembly must be established before the present Assembly expires.

The state will vote in two rounds on December 1 and 2 to choose its new government. Along with Himachal Pradesh, the results will be announced on December 8.

The ECI previously made the Himachal Pradesh election dates known to the public. The chief election commissioner for the state, Rajiv Kumar, declared that voting will occur on November 12 and that results will be tallied on December 8. In the 68-member Assembly elections with more than 55 lakh eligible voters, the BJP will try to stop the three-decade tradition of no ruling party regaining control by beating the main opposition Congress in the hill state. The Gujarat Assembly election schedule, however, hadn’t yet been announced by the poll commission.

“The Election Commission goes by convention in announcing poll schedules. It has decided to go by the convention which was last followed,” Kumar had told reporters when asked why Gujarat polls were not announced.

Kumar stated that elections in one state would not affect elections in the other as “there is a gap of 40 days” in the qualifying dates of the state assemblies of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. The term of the Himachal Pradesh assembly ends on January 8, 2023.

There are rumours that the Gujarat elections will still take place in the months of November and December so that the results can be announced on the same day as in 2017. Elections for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were announced by the commission for October 12 and 25, respectively, in 2017. Vote tallying took place on December 18.

Some opposition leaders, however, suggested that delaying the announcement of the Gujarat polls might enable the current administration to implement further social programmes before the model code of conduct takes effect.