Campaigning for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections ended on Thursday, 48 hours before the voting on December 9 in 89 seats — out of 182 — spanning the politically-crucial Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions.
In Saurashtra, there are around a dozen constituencies where the impact of Patidar agitation for quota is likely to be felt in the polls as their leader Hardik Patel has been touring the regions extensively to mobilise public opinion against the ruling BJP.
In south Gujarat, diamond and textiles hub of the country Surat, with 12 its Assembly seats, will witness voting in the first phase. A strong fortress for the BJP, the city has been a fertile ground for the Patidar agitation and subsequently strong protests by traders, entrepreneurs and businessmen over GST introduced by the Central government.
Among the key contenders in the fray in the first phase include Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and state BJP president Jitu Vaghani and Congress stalwarts Shaktisinh Gohil and Arjun Modhwadia, besides several ministers and senior leaders of both parties.
According to Election Commission officials, a total of 977 candidates are contesting in the first phase when voting will be held in 2,4689 polling stations in about 20 districts.
During the campaign in the two regions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed as many as 14 rallies in different locations while Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi spent more than seven days during which he held meetings and small rallies, interacted with different sections of people and visited religious places like Dwarka, Somnath and Chotila.
However, the main crowd-puller turned out to be Patidar leader Hardik Patel, who held a massive meeting in CM Rupani’s constituency Rajkot West, and also in Surat where more than 80,000 people turned up in his 10-km road show that culminated into a rally.
