NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the polling dates and full schedule for the upcoming assembly election in Gujarat around noon on Thursday. According to a notification issued by the Election Commission, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar along with Election Commissioner Anoop Chandra Pandey will hold a press conference around noon during which they will announce the full poll schedule for Gujarat.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING


The press conference will be held at the Rang Bhavan auditorium of All India Radio. The Election Commission had last month announced the polling dates for Himachal Pradesh but it refrained from doing the same for Gujarat. According to ECI sources, voting in Gujarat may be held in two phases in the first week of December.


Counting of votes may be done along with Himachal Pradesh on December 8, said sources. Assembly elections in Gujarat were last held in 2017 when the BJP emerged victorious to secure a fifth straight term in power. Last time, the saffron party won 99 of the 182 seats in the state assembly, while the Congress secured 77.


This year's election is set to be a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party. Leaders of the saffron party have exuded confidence that they will retain power in Gujarat, while the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has launched an all-out campaign to woo voters in the state.


Meanwhile, voting for Assembly by-elections in seven vacant seats spread across the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh began on Thursday morning. Polling is being held from 7 am to 6 pm amid tight security and the counting of votes will be conducted on November 6.