Gujarat elections: Polling for 89 seats begins, spotlight on Saurashtra-Kutch region

As many as 89 seats across 19 districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of Gujarat will vote on Thursday after a high-voltage campaign that saw the ruling BJP, Congress and the AAP pulling all the stops to ensure victory.

As many as 788 candidates are in the fray, including Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. While Patel will seek a mandate from Ghatlodia, AAP chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi is in the fray from Khambhaliya.

The first phase is crucial for the BJP as, during the 2017 Assembly elections, Congress had given it a tough fight in the region.

Out of the 89 seats going to polls in the first phase, the BJP won 48 last time while the Congress won 40. One seat went to an independent candidate.

With 54 seats, the Saurashtra-Kutch region will be crucial for the Congress as it seeks to better its performance. 

The party has fielded candidates, including sitting Congress MLAs like Lalit Kagathara, Lalit Vasoya, Rutvik Makwana and Mohammad Javed Pirzada from seats in the Saurashtra region. 

Seven-time MLA and veteran tribal leader Chhotu Vasava is contesting from Jhagadia in Bharuch.

In the region alone, Congress had almost doubled its tally in the last elections. While it got just 16 seats in 2012, the tally rose to 30 in 2017.

Given this, BJP has given it all for the 2022 elections, by launching an extensive campaign which saw the participation of Narendra Modi and other senior leaders, as the ruling party's seats had plummeted from 35 to 23 last time.

Congress hopes to better its tally in South Gujarat too. It had risen from six seats in 2012 to 10 in 2017, while BJP's share plummeted from 28 to 25. 

South Gujarat also comprises Surat city with 12 seats which has remained the BJP's bastion for a long time.

This time, it is a three-way fight as AAP has made its presence felt in electoral politics. AAP has its candidates in 88 seats. 

The remaining one is the Surat East constituency, where the AAP candidate withdrew his candidature.

Besides these three parties, as many as 36 other political parties, including the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) have also fielded candidates in various seats.

As many as 339 independents are also in the fray in the first phase of polls.