Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5 and the counting of ballots will take place on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Thursday.
Of the total 182 assembly seats in Gujarat, the first phase involves 89 seats while the second covers 93 seats.
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 BJP polled 49.05 per cent of the valid votes and the Congress 42.97 per cent.
The Congress witnessed a series of defections after the assembly elections and the BJP increased its tally in the House to 111. On the other hand, the Congress tally fell to 62.
Gujarat's electoral field has expanded this time to include a third party with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) challenging the ruling BJP as well as the opposition Congress, which has lost ground but still has a significant presence. The contest, thus, will be triangular.
AAP has trained its sights on Gujarat and has already entered the election mode. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has made several trips to Gujarat to ensure that his party makes inroads into the state after a successful foray in Punjab.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been visiting Gujarat to inaugurate and launch several projects.
The Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh besides in a few other states in 2023 are seen as crucial in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when Modi and BJP will bid for their third consecutive government at the Centre.
The major contestants have already made up their minds to rake up local issues, but as campaign knives get sharper, the October 30 tragedy, in which 135 people lost their lives, could find emotive resonance.
Besides, the freebie-versus-welfarism debate — over which the challenger AAP and the BJP have been sparring over the last several weeks — and the ruling party's main poll planks of Hindutva, 'double engine' growth' and continuity in governance are likely to remain at the centre stage.
Now, all eyes are on Kejriwal as well as his party leaders who have made a high-decibel entry into the field, giving voters a third option in a state that has for decades been bipolar in its politics.
(Subhashis Mittra is a New Delhi-based senior journalist, freelance writer and public policy analyst.)