The Election Commission will announce the schedule for the Gujarat assembly polls at 12 noon on Thursday. The poll panel has called for a press conference to announce the schedule. The term of the 182-member Gujarat assembly ends on February 18 next year.
The poll panel had not announced the Gujarat election schedule when it came out with Himachal Pradesh poll dates last month. Elections in Himachal Pradesh will be held in a single phase on November 12, the counting of votes will take place on December 8. It is very likely just like in 2017, Gujarat and Himachal poll results will be declared on the same day, the EC had hinted earlier.
BJP, AAP and Congress are locked in a triangular-battle in the state. The election dates are being announced in the aftermath of the Morbi bridge tragedy which claimed 141 lives and several were injured.
Currently, Gujarat government is led by BJP’s Bhupendrabhai Rajnikantbhai Patel.
The AAP is giving a spirited fight to the BJP in the state.
The delay in announcement of dates by EC for Gujarat polls has come in for questioning by parties. The EC has been accused of favouring the BJP by giving it ample time for announcing projects.
On November 2, All India Trinamool Congress Spokesperson Saket Gokhale wrote a letter to the EC asking for immediate notification of the dates. “Election Commission is equally culpable for the tragedy in Morbi, Gujarat by not notifying elections in order to allow BJP to hurriedly inaugurate projects before Model Code of Conduct sets in. Have written to the EC demanding that Gujarat Elections be notified immediately,” he tweeted.