1,621 candidates in fray for Gujarat Assembly elections

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A total of 1,621 candidates are left in the fray for the next month's Gujarat Assembly elections after the deadline for the withdrawal of nominations got over, an official said on Tuesday.

Elections to the 182-member Assembly would be held in two phases on December 1 and 5.

For the 93 seats where elections would be held in the second phase, there are 833 candidates in the fray, said a release from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer.

The last day of withdrawal for the second phase was Monday.

As many as 788 candidates are in the fray for 89 seats that will go to the polls in the first phase of elections, the release added.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded candidates on all 182 seats, while Congress has fielded candidates on 179 seats while it allocated three seats to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as part of a pre-poll alliance.

But with the NCP candidate withdrawing his nomination for Devgadh Baria seat, the party is contesting two seats.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also fielded candidates on all 182 seats, but its candidates withdrew his nomination from the Surat East seat, so it will end up contesting 181 seats.

All Indian Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) fielded candidates in 14 Assembly seats but its candidates withdrew from Bapunagar seat.

Constituencies in the districts of Saurashtra-Kutch region and south Gujarat will go to the polls in the first phase. These districts are Valsad, Tapi, Dang, Navsari, Surat, Bharuch, Narmada, Botad, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Gir Somnath, Junagadh, Porbandar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Morbi, Surendranagar and Kutch.

In the second phase, seats in the districts of central and north Gujarat, that is, Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, Kheda, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara and Chhota Udepur will go to the polls.

Counting of votes for both the phases will be held on December 8.