According to the Election Commission, close to 2.23 crore voters will decide the fate of 851 candidates, who are contesting from the 93 seats
The stage is set for the second and final phase of the crucial Gujarat Assembly elections, which could have a huge bearing on the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The second phase will see 93 seats in central and north Gujarat region, including 21 seats of Ahmedabad district, go to the polls on Thursday.
According to the Election Commission, close to 2.23 crore voters will decide the fate of 851 candidates, who are contesting from the 93 seats. Voting will take place from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at 25,575 booths in 14 districts.
Gujarat's Chief Electoral Officer BB Swain said that all preparations for smooth conduct of the second phase of elections have been completed.
BJP had swept south Gujarat and Saurashtra regions in the 2012 elections, but the two parties were almost neck and neck in central and north Gujarat. While BJP had won 49 of these 93 seats, Congress was not too far behind by winning 44 seats. Led by Narendra Modi, the BJP had won 32 out of 53 seats in north Gujarat.
Meanwhile, Congress had the clear upper hand in central Gujarat, where it won 23 out of 40 seats.
With reports suggesting that the first phase of elections was a close contest, and BJP could see some reverses, north and central Gujarat could actually decide the winner on December 18 when the votes are counted.
On paper, BJP would seem to have an edge over the Congress while going into the second phase of polls. Of the 93 seats on offer in Thursday's polls, 23 or almost a quarter are from Ahmedabad and Vadodara cities, of which BJP had won 21 in the previous elections. However, the response to Hardik Patel's roadshows in Ahmedabad and Vadadara would be a cause for concern for BJP.
Congress had swept the rural seats in the twin regions in the previous election, and is hoping for a repeat of the performance to break its 22-year-old losing streak in the state.
BJP is banking on Prime Minister Modi's popularity to woo voters, even as Congress bets on party president Rahul Gandhi's extensive campaigning in the state in which he repeatedly targeted Modi over economic disruptions caused by demonetisation and GST, unemployment, agrarian crisis, among others.
The low point of the campaigning was when now suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar using the word 'neech' to describe Modi. The PM hit back by raising the issue in every rally, and reminding people of his humble background. In his speeches, he also accused Congress of colluding with Pakistan to install senior leader Ahmed Patel as the Chief Minister, a remark many saw as an attempt to polarise voters.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and ministers Shankar Chaudhary and Pradipsinh Jadeja are some of the key BJP candidates in Thursday's elections. Siddharth Patel and Mohansinh Rathwa are among the prominent Congress faces in the second phase. Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani, who is contesting from Vadgam (SC) seat as an independent with Congress's support, is also in the fray. OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, contesting on a Congress ticket from Radhanpur seat, is another prominent face.
Eighty-nine seats had gone to polls in the first phase on December 9. The counting of votes will take place on December 18.EC notice to Rahul on poll code breach
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