Ahmadabad: The campaigning for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections will end at 5 pm today (Tuesday). Under the first phase, polling is to be held in 89 assembly constituencies on December 01. According to Chief Electoral Officer P Bharti, a total of 788 candidates are in the fray for these seats.
There are a total of 182 assembly seats in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. Of these, 13 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 27 for Scheduled Tribes. Central Gujarat has the highest number of seats (61). After this, Saurashtra-Kutch has 54 seats, South Gujarat has 35 and North Gujarat has 32 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party has been ruling Gujarat for 27 years. For the last few years, the BJP has got the benefit of decreasing popularity of the Congress. In Gujarat, the birth and workplace of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP did not face any problem in winning the elections.
Things are definitely different this time. Five years ago, in the 2017 elections, Congress performed somewhat better. This time Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party is also in the fray here. Kejriwal has even predicted the success of his party which has played havoc in Delhi and Punjab.
Today, on the last day of the election campaign, union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will hold public meetings in Dahod, Kheda and Ahmedabad. BJP national president JP Nadda will also address three rallies. Aam Aadmi Party has announced the roadshow. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will also show his strength.
