The Election Commission will announce the dates for the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections on Thursday. According to reports, the poll panel will announce it today at 12 noon in a press conference.
The poll panel surprised experts after it announced the dates for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections but left out Gujarat last month.
The poll panel’s announcement comes at a time when the BJP-led government is grappling with the political fallout from the Morbi bridge collapse that killed 135 people.
BJP has ruled the state for 25 years. However, the party is getting a strong challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party, which is trying to expand its footprint across the country.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party holds governments in Delhi and Punjab. It is gaining support in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and wants to replace Congress as the main opposition.
The Congress came a close second in the Gujarat elections in 2017. However, the party’s state unit now seems fragmented. He is also getting a dual challenge from BJP and AAP.
Kejriwal said that the upcoming elections are a contest between BJP vs AAP.
However, Congress claims it is getting a good response in Gujarat.
Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, two top BJP leaders.
BJP is contesting elections on the ground of development and Hindutva. The party termed AAP as anti-Hindu.
Kejriwal also threw a curve ball at the BJP with his demand for Laxmi-Ganesh figures on currency notes. The BJP claimed that the demand was a ruse to hide AAP’s anti-Hindu face.