The Election Commission of India is likely to announce the polling schedule for the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections on Friday. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have a bitter fight in the two states to take on Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Gujarat bastion and also in Himachal Pradesh in the state assembly elections.
Gujarat Legislative Assembly Election 2022:
Gujarat Assembly elections for 182 seats are expected to be held in December 2022.
The last assembly elections were held in 2017 in which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 99 seats, the Congress 77 seats while the AAP was nil. For AAP, the election will be an opportunity to emerge as a pan-India party.
The BJP has been in the saddle for 27 years in Gujarat except for a 17-month term in which a piece of party rebel Shankarsinh Vaghela captured the fort with the support of the Congress.
For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat must be retained if the 2024 electoral war is to be waged independently for a third term.
Campaigning has intensified in Gujarat ahead of the announcement of assembly election dates, with prominent political leaders like Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi visiting the state.
The streets of Gujarat’s cities and villages are filled with advertising banners of political parties.
PM Modi was on a whirlwind tour of Gujarat for two days this week and inaugurated / laid foundation stones for more projects 27,000 crore in different parts of the state like Surat, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad and Ambaji. He also inaugurated metro train services to Ahmedabad and flagged off India’s third Vande Bharat Express from Gandhinagar to Mumbai.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had visited the state last month and met state officials and representatives of political parties. He reviewed the preparations of the state administration for conducting the elections. Political parties are also running extensive advertising campaigns in the mainstream and social media.
Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Election 2022:
Voting for the seats of 68 members can also be held in December this year. In 2017, the BJP formed the government in the hill state with Jai Ram Thakur becoming the chief minister.
The Election Commission also held a review meeting last month with Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police, IGs, DIGs and CAPFs and nodal officers of 12 districts in Himachal Pradesh.
The term of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha ends on January 8, 2023. The BJP has 45 MLAs in the state, while the Congress has 20.
The Model Code of Conduct will come into force as soon as the Election Commission’s schedule is announced.
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