Dates for Gujarat Assembly elections have been declared by the Election Commission. The state will witness a two-phase poll on December 9 and 14, counting will take place on December 18. Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti said the model code of conduct comes into effect from now onwards.
The sate has 182 seats, spread across 33 districts. 19 districts will go to polls in phase 1. They include Kutch, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Kota, Valsad, and others. Last date for nomination of candidates is November 21 and last date for withdrawal of candidature is November 24. 14 districts will go to polls on December 14, Ahmedabad will be one of them. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the election in his home state is an important battle for prestige. Development as always, will be his slogan. The BJP's new campaign 'Hun Chu Vikas, Hun Chu Gujarat' (I am Development, I am Gujarat) is vaguely similar to Modi's 2012 campaign slogan, 'Hun Modi no Manas Chu' (I am Modi's man).
Mumbai-based analyst Jai Mrug said, “If the 2012 Gujarat elections where the BJP won for the third successive time under Modi as its CM was a personal battle for the race for the prime ministerial post, the 2017 Gujarat elections are now of national significance both for Modi and the BJP. A reduction in its numbers could mean that the Modi juggernaut can be challenged and will galvanize opposition forces for the 2019 elections.” The 150 seats target by the BJP is aimed at breaking the record of 149 seats that the Congress won back in 1985 under the leadership of Madhavsinh Solanki.
“This time, the main election issue is of development. The opposition party is criticising GST and demonetisation, and BJP’s thumping victory will give a befitting reply to all such critics. This election will be a verdict on PM Modi’s leadership and his vision and will clear the way for the party’s victory for 2019 elections as well,” a BJP official said.
For Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party, the poll is yet another chance to revive its position in the run-up to 2019. He has also increased the frequency of his visits to Gujarat in the past few months, in anticipation of the announcement of the election dates, and has been trying to forge an alliance with dynamic young leaders Alpesh Thakor of other backward classes (OBC), Hardik Patel of the Patidar community, and Dalit leader Jignesh Patel to defeat the BJP.
