The Election Campaign is likely to announce the dates for the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh by 4 pm today. It was long back announced that the elections might be held in Dec, but the specific dates were yet to be decided.
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Achal Kumar Jyoti, on Tuesday during a press conference had said that the polls in both the states will be held in Dec, however, he did not disclose the dates, nor did he say anything if Gujarat will hold a one or two-phase elections. “The term of the Gujarat Assembly ends on January 22, so the election will have to be completed in December. Assembly Elections will mostly be conducted in December,” Jyoti said.
Both the BJP and the Congress had begun their election campaigns long back in both the states. BJP party president Amit Shah and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi have been on their toes for the past few days, campaigning for the respective parties and attacking each other in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also visited both the states, inaugurating quite a number of projects in the poll-bound states.
While the Congress has declared the incumbent Cheif Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh as the Congress candidate, the BJP is yet to decide on one. BJP has not invited any applications from candidates for the ticket and the party would conduct surveys to check the winning prospect, popularity and public image of probable candidates. Both the parties will be contesting the elections from all 68 assembly seats.
Meanwhile, both the parties have still not announced its candidate in Gujarat. The Aam Admi Party (AAP) also has said that the party will be contesting the polls in Gujarat, however, it will field candidates only on seats that meet certain criteria set by its central leadership.