Gandhinagar: A total of 281 candidates are in the fray in the 35 seats that go to poll in the first phase of Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022 set to be held on December 1. Voting will be held from 8 am to 5 pm. Poll analysts are expecting a triangular contest among the BJP, the Congress and the AAP which is making its debut in Gujarat. The AIMIM is also expected to play an active role.
District-wise there are 16 seats in Surat, 2 in Tapi, 1 in Dang, 4 in Navsari, 05 in Bharuch, 05 in Valsad and 02 in Narmada. The candidates are fighting on different poll planks in urban areas and rural areas. In Surat, industrial development, employment issues, civic amenities and law and justice system problems are major issues in all Surat urban seats and to a lesser extent in rural seats. AAP campaign revolved around education, healthcare and free electricity.
As for the high stake seats, Mahesh Vasava of BJP is contesting from Narmada seat, DK Swami of BJP from Jambusar seat, Arun Rana of BJP from Wagra, Chhotu Vasava Independent from Jangaria, Vijaysinh Patel of Congress from Ankleshwar and his brother Ishwarsinh Patel from Alpad seat, Dharmic Malviya of AAP, Mukesh Patel of BJP, Darshan Nayak of Congress from Mangrol seat, BJP's Ganpat Vasava from Mandvi seat, Anil Chaudhary Congress, Kunvarji Halpati BJP from Kamrej seat, BJP's Anand Chaudhary, Congress's Praful Panseria, Ram Dhaduk of AAP from Surat East, Arvind Rana of BJP from Varachha seat, Kumar Kanani of BJP, Prafulla Togadia of Congress and Alpesh Kathiria of AAP from Limbayat seat, Sangeeta Patil of BJP from Labora seat, Harsh Sanghvi of BJP, Balwant Jain of Congress from Katargam seat, PVS Sharma of AAP, Vinod Moradiya of Congress.
Also read: Gujarat set for Assembly polls as campaign ends for phase-I; Voting on Dec 1
