Ahmedabad: The second phase of the high stakes Assembly election in Gujarat will be held on Monday in 93 constituencies spread across 14 districts located in the northern and central part of the State. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will also cast their votes today.
Although in the 2017 Assembly elections, the ruling BJP won 51 among 93 poll-bound constituencies while Congress managed to bag 39 seats, this time the entry of the Aam Admi Party(AAP), buoyant with its recent success in Punjab, may alter the political equations in the home State of the Prime Minister.
A total of 833 candidates will be in the fray in the 93 poll-bound seats in the second phase. Apart from those fielded by 61 political parties including the three main rivals-BJP, Congress, and AAP-285 Independent candidates will also be contesting in the second phase.
While the BJP and AAP have fielded candidates in all the 93 poll-bound constituencies-spread across Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Gandhinagar and other districts- the Congress will be contesting in 90 seats and its alliance partner NCP has fielded candidates in two seats in Gujarat. The Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) will be contesting in 12 seats while the BSP has fielded candidates in 44 seats.
The key constituencies in the second phase include Ghatlodia in Ahmedabad district where Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel is contesting, Viramgam seat (also in Ahmedabad) from where Patidar leader Hardik Patel is the BJP candidate and Gandhinagar South from where Alpesh Thakor is fighting as the saffron party candidate.
Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani is contesting on a Congress ticket from the Vadgam constituency in Banaskantha district and Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly Sukhram Rathva is the Congress candidate from Jetpur in Chhota Udepur district. BJP rebel Madhu Shrivastav has entered the fray as an Independent candidate from Vaghodia seat in the Vadodara district.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will cast their votes in the second phase. The Prime Minister will cast his vote at a polling station set up at a high school in Ranip locality in Ahmedabad city on Monday morning, official sources said.
They further revealed that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah will cast his vote at a municipal sub-zonal office in the Naranpura locality of the city. After landing at the Ahmedabad airport on Sunday evening the Prime Minister met his mother Hiraba at her residence in Raisan area of Gandhinagar and sought her blessings.
After spending about 45 minutes with her, the Prime Minister went to the state BJP headquarters "Kamalam'' in Gandhinagar where he was received by Amit Shah, state BJP president CR Paatil, and other senior leaders.
"PM Modi will exercise his franchise at a polling station set up at Nishan high school in Ranip locality in Ahmedabad city on Monday morning," Collector Dhaval Patel said. Modi is a registered voter from Ranip area and had cast his vote in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and previous polls. The polling station falls under the Sabarmati Assembly constituency in Ahmedabad.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, former Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, Union Minister Devusinh Chauhan and BJP MP Bharat Sinh Dabhi will also cast their votes in the second phase. The first phase of the Assembly election held on December 1 in 89 seats in Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat regions witnessed an average voter turnout of 63.31 per cent. The results will be declared on December 8.
A total 2.51 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise for the second phase of elections, including 1.29 crore men and 1.22 crore women. There are 5.96 lakh voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years, according to the Election Commission.-
