New Delhi: Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are poll-bound end of this year and the Election Commission is likely to announce the exact dates later today.
Gujarat and Himachal’s legislative tenures end in January, 2018.
This is Gujarat’s fourteenth Assembly election to send 182 members to office. Himachal Pradesh has 68 constituencies.
Himachal’s 68-member Assembly is ruled by the Congress which has 36 seats to BJP’s 26. Since 1985, the state has never re-elected an incumbent and the Congress and BJP have exchanged power. Before BJP’s first win in 1990, Congress lost once – to Janata Party in 1977.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) A K Joti had said Tuesday that the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) will be used in over 50,000 booths in Gujarat. VVPAT was first used in the Goa polls earlier this year.
He informed the Election Commission has set up at least one all-women poll centre in each of the 182 seats in Gujarat.
In 2012, the BJP led by Narendra Modi, had won 116 seats, while the Congress won 60. BJP has been in power in Gujarat since 1995.
An opinion poll earlier this year has given BJP 144 to 152 seats, and 59 per cent of the voting share in Gujarat. Congress got 26 to 32 seats and 29 per cent.
