Gujarat assembly polls to be held in two phases on December 1 and 5

The Gujarat assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5, while the counting of votes will be conducted on December 8, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule on Thursday, weeks after it announced polls to the 68-seat Himachal Pradesh House.

The term of the 182-member Gujarat assembly ends on February 18 next year.

In Gujarat, as per the electoral roll published on October 10, over 4.9 crore electors are registered, out of which 4.04 lakh are PwD electors; over 9.8 lakh 80-plus senior citizens and 4.61 lakh first-time voters.

Now, youngsters get four chances in a year to enrol as a voter instead of a single qualifying date.

For enhanced voting experience, 1,274 polling stations will be completely managed by women polling and security staff. 

For the first time, to motivate young voters, 33 polling stations will be set up and managed by the youngest available polling staff.

ECI's special emphasis on the participation of third-gender voters in the election process. Special camps organised in each district to facilitate enrolment.

In Gujarat, the number of registered third-gender voters in 2022 doubled in comparison to 2017.

 In 2017, the elections for Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were announced on different dates but the counting took place together on December 18.

Floods in Gujarat had led the panel to hold polls in the state after the Himachal Pradesh poll schedule was announced.

Citing the convention followed in 2017, the election commission had not announced the Gujarat election schedule when it came out with Himachal Pradesh poll dates last month.

 In Gujarat, the BJP had pulled off its sixth consecutive victory winning 99 seats in the last polls, while the Congress put up a spirited fight by bagging 77 seats.

In percentage terms, the the BJP had polled 49.05 per cent of the valid votes, while the Congress had polled 42.97 per cent.