Last day of campaigning for 1st phase of Gujarat Assembly polls

The campaigning for the first phase of elections in 89 out of the total 182 seats in Gujarat will end on Tuesday.

Elections for the first phase will be held on December 1.

Voting for the remaining 93 seats will be held on December 5. Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda and Union minister Smriti Irani will on Tuesday campaign in Bhavnagar and Gandhidham (Kutch district), respectively, for the BJP candidates contesting in the first phase.

Among notable candidates in the first phase is Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) chief ministerial face Isudan Gadhvi, who is contesting from Khambhalia seat in Devbhumi Dwarka district.

Former Gujarat minister Parshottam Solanki, six-time MLA Kunwarji Bavaliya, Morbi ‘hero’ Kantilal Amrutiya, Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja’s wife Rivaba and Gujarat AAP president Gopal Italia are also among the prominent candidates in the fray for the first phase of the state Assembly elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Nadda and other BJP leaders have already held rallies to garner support for their party nominees contesting in the first phase.

AAP’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also extensively campaigned for his party candidates and made a slew of promises to the people of Gujarat, if his party is voted to power in the state, governed by the BJP for last 27 years.

From the Congress, its president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot have been among the prominent campaigners for their party nominees.

On Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will also campaign in the state for the BJP candidates contesting in the second phase of polls on December 5.