It will be a two-phase election for the 182-member Gujarat assembly, whose term ends on February 18, 2023.
The first phase of voting will be on December 1, which will involve 89 constituencies, and the second phase on December 5, which will involve the remaining 93 constituencies, Gujarat Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Thursday in a press conference that was also attended by Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey and senior officials from the poll authority.
The counting of votes will be done on December 8.
The Commission had announced elections to Himachal Pradesh on October 14 but skipped declaring polls for Gujarat.
The counting of votes in the Himachal Pradesh Election too will happen on December 8.
Over 4.9 crore electors will be eligible to vote in these elections. In 2017, 4.35 crore electors were eligible.
Gujarat has a strong 4,90,89,765 electorate, which includes 2,53,36,610 males and 2,37,51,738 females.
Home voting facility will be available for senior citizens above 80.
Polls in the state will be conducted across over 51,000 polling stations. More than 34,000 of these are in rural areas. Over 1,274 of the polling stations will be completely managed by women officials
"We are focussing on urban (electoral) apathy seriously to improve voter turnout," Rajiv Kumar said while making the announcement.
The Chief Election Commissioner also announced a Know Your Candidate app and a section on the Election Commission website that will help in "informed voting.
The Election Commission's Suvidha Portal will provide online nomination and affidavit filing options to the candidates.
Background
The Gujarat election will primarily be a three-way contest between the ruling BJP, Congress and the new entrant AAP.
The BJP has won the last six assembly elections in 2017 and been in power in the state since 1995. They clinched 99 seats in the last polls, while the Congress had won 77 seats.
Elections in Himachal, which has a 68-member house, will be held in a single phase on November 12.
In 2017 also, elections in the two states were announced on different dates but the counting took place on the same day then too --- ten days later on December 18.
Floods in Gujarat then led the Election Commission to hold elections there after the Himachal Pradesh elections schedule was announced.
Prime Minister Modi has personally taken a big part in the campaigning in his home state. The state recently witnessed the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy that claimed over 140 lives.
The Election Commission briefing began with condolences being extended to the victims of the tragedy.
Key dates:
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)