NEW DELHI: The Gujarat assembly elections will be held in two phases. The polling for 89 seats under the first phase will take place on December 1 and voting for the remaining 93 seats is scheduled on December 5, announced Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Thursday. The counting of votes will be on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh.
On October 14, the Election Commission (EC) declared the date for elections in Himachal but didn’t announce Gujarat election schedule. Dismissing the criticism for intentionally delaying the poll announcement for Gujarat, allowing the ruling BJP to roll out more welfare schemes before the model code of conduct comes into effect, Kumar stated that the Commission had to take multiple factors into consideration including weather, last date of the term of the assembly and the number of days the model code of conduct should be in force.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been visiting Gujarat to unveil a slew of schemes and lay the foundation for various projects ahead of the polls. The term of the Gujarat assembly ends on February 18, 2023 and the elections have been announced 110 days in advance, Kumar said.
“Delay is also because of the recent unfortunate incident (Morbi bridge collapse). There was state mourning in the state till Wednesday and there are also multiple factors,” Kumar added. The notification for the 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 phase respectively. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on November 15 and November 18. The last date for withdrawal of nominations for the first phase is November 17 and for the second phase it is November 21. These elections along with a few more in other states in 2023 are being seen as crucial in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
