EC held a press briefing at Rang Bhawan Auditorium in New Delhi where it announced dates for Gujarat assembly elections.

The term of the 182-member Gujarat assembly ends on February 18 next year. The voting will be held in two phases, said the Election Commission.
In the first phase, 89 seats will go to polls on December 1 and remaining 93 seats will go to polls on December 5 in the second phase, the EC said.

Over 51,000 polling stations have been earmarked for Gujarat assembly polls, including more than 34,000 in rural areas, said chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

“Over 4.9 crore total electors eligible to vote in 182 seats for Gujarat assembly elections,” EC said.

ET Online

Citing the convention followed in 2017, the poll panel had not announced the Gujarat election schedule when it came out with Himachal Pradesh poll dates in October.
By keeping the counting date for Himachal Pradesh nearly a month after the polling, the commission had given a clear hint that votes for Gujarat would also be counted on December 8.

In 2017, the polls in the two states were announced on different dates but the counting took place together on December 18.

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

Last month, the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey visited Gujarat and Himachal to review poll preparedness.

The 14th Gujarat Legislative Assembly election was held on December 9 and 14 in 2017 to elect the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). The votes were counted on 18 December.

Congress, which had put up a strong fight in the last assembly polls, is seeking to oust the BJP from power in Gujarat. With AAP also seeking to make its presence felt in the state, the challenge has increased in this election.

The BJP has won six consecutive assembly polls in Gujarat. The Congress is keen to take an early decision on candidates to give them more time for campaigning and is seeking to bolster its campaign through yatras.

The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) obtained a simple majority with an increase in the vote share in the last election. Despite a decrease in the number of seats, the BJP retained its simple majority in the house and formed government for the sixth time.

In the results declared for all the 182-seated Gujarat Assembly, BJP won 99 seats, Congress wins 77, 1 seat was won by NCP while Bhartiya Tribal Party and Independent candidate won 2 and 3 seats respectively.