Why was there a delay in announcing Gujarat Assembly election dates? EC answers

The Election Commission announced polls to Himachal Pradesh on October 14 but had skipped declaring the Assembly election schedule for Gujarat.

New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday (November 3, 2022) announced the dates for the Assembly elections in Gujarat and said that the polls will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5 with the counting of votes on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh. Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that of the total 182 assembly seats in Gujarat, voting for 89 seats will be held on December 1 and the remaining 93 seats will go to polls on December 5.

On the Opposition's criticism of bias in delaying the poll announcement for Gujarat, Kumar contended that the Commission had to balance many things including weather, the last date of the term of the assembly and the number of days the model code of conduct should be in force.

The Commission, notably, had announced elections to Himachal Pradesh on October 14 but had skipped declaring the poll schedule for Gujarat.

"It is a combination of multiple factors and we are well within the factors of consideration, including polls in nearby states," the chief election commissioner said.

He also indicated that the elections could have been announced a couple of days earlier, but was delayed due to the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy, which took at least 135 lives on Sunday.

"We also had to take note of the tragedy that had befallen the state. That was also one factor for the delay. There was state mourning in the state till yesterday (Wednesday). So, it is (because of) multiple factors," Kumar said.

Gujarat Assembly polls to be held in two phases

The notification for the Gujarat assembly elections will be issued on November 5 and November 10 for the first and the second phases respectively.

The last date for filing of nominations will be November 14 and November 17 for the first and second phases respectively. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on November 15 and November 18.

The last date for the withdrawal of nominations for the first phase is November 17 and for the second phase, it is November 21.

There are over 4.9 crore eligible voters in total in Gujarat, including 4.6 lakh first time voters. The EC will set up 51,782 polling stations for voters of which 34,276 will be set up in rural areas, while 17,506 will be in urban areas.

Schedule for GE to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat.
#GujaratElections2022 #ECI pic.twitter.com/0A6CSUIJV5 — Election Commission of India #SVEEP (@ECISVEEP) November 3, 2022

In the last polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had pulled off its sixth consecutive victory winning 99 seats, while the Congress bagged 77 seats. In percentage terms, the BJP had polled 49.05 per cent of the valid votes, while the Congress had polled 42.97 per cent.

The Congress, however, witnessed a series of defections after the assembly elections and the BJP increased its tally in the House to 111. The Congress numbers were reduced to 62.

This year, the aggressive entry of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat may also change the Assembly poll equations in the state. The AAP, whose presence has made next month's elections a three-cornered contest in a state where politics has remained essentially bipolar, has already announced to contest all the 182 seats.

(With agency inputs)