The Election Commission of India is likely to announce the schedule for the Gujarat Assembly elections this week, news agency PTI reported.
Citing convention followed in 2017, the poll panel while announcing the election dates for Himachal Pradesh on October 14, had not announced poll dates for Gujarat. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had defended the decision saying there is a ‘gap of 40 days’ between the end of tenure of the two Assemblies.
Elections in Himachal Pradesh will take place on November 12 and counting of votes will take place on December 8.
In 2017, the elections in the two states were held on different dates, however, the counting dates were the same for the two states, which was on December 18.
This year, as the EC kept the counting date for Himachal Pradesh nearly a month after polling, the poll body gave a clear hint that votes for Gujarat would also be counted on December 8. Elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were held together at least in 1998, 2007 and 2012.
The term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will end on February 18, 2023. The main contenders in the electoral contest are the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been in power in the state for the last 27 years, the Congress and new entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
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The AAP has so far released names of 86 candidates, while the BJP and the Congress have released any names yet.