Gujarat Assembly Elections: Campaigning ends for first phase

Campaigning for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly Elections ended on Thursday evening for legislative seats where polling would be held on December 9.

Campaigning for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly polls is being seen as a litmus test for both ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Opposition Congress. It is considered as high stake for BJP as it is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and for Congress because it has been out of power for over two decades.

On December 9, voters of 89 Assembly seats out of 182 will cast their votes to decide the fate of 977 candidates.

Key districts going on polls in the first phase are Junagadh, Rajkot, Morbi,Amreli, Kutch and Surendranagar.

Out of 977 candidates in fray from 50 political parties as well as independents, 57 are women. Polling will take place across 24,689 polling stations.

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PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi led aggressive campaign for BJP and Congress, respectively.

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PM Modi during the campaign period addressed at least 14 rallies, while Rahul Gandhi spent more than seven days in south Gujarat and Saurashtra.

The BJP in the first phase poll campaign projected the work of its state and union government, while the Congress party targeted its opponent over the fulfilment of claims and joined hands with social leaders including Hardik Patel and other Dalit leaders.