Sunday, Dec 4, 2022: Phase 2: 93 constituencies go to polls on December 5
Bhupendrabha Pate, Chief Ministerof Gujarat
In Phase 2, there are 833 candidates in the fray, including high-profile candidates such as Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel from Ghatlodia in Ahmedabad. The Congress has fielded Rajya Sabha member Amee Yajnik against him.
Some of the other heavyweights, whose candidature is before the voters, are Alpesh Thakor, the OBC leader, Hardik Patel, the Leader of the Patidar quota agitation of 2016-17, Jignesh Mevani, a Dalit activist, in the last round of polling in these Assembly polls. Among the top tribal leaders in the fray are Leader of the Opposition Sukhram Rathwa from central Gujarat and former Union Minister Tushar Chaudhary from Khedbrahma in north Gujarat.
According to Gujarat’s Chief Electoral Officer P. Bharathi, of the total 26,409 polling stations, 93 are model booths, 93 are eco-friendly booths, another 93 are managed by Divyangs and 14 are managed by youth. Webcasting will be done in 13,319 booths in the second phase.
At the polling stations, 36,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be engaged. Around 29,000 presiding officers and over 84,000 polling officers have been deployed in 14 districts to facilitate the polling process.
In Phase 2, 93 constituencies will go to polls on Monday, 5th December 2022, spread across 14 districts of north and central Gujarat including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Gandhinagar.
The first phase, for which voting had taken place on 1st December 2022, covered 89 seats in 19 districts.
The counting of votes will take place on December 8.
— By Sachin Ashal