Campaign ends for all Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat; Polling on 7th May

Gandhinagar: Gandhinagar: The campaign for the third phase of the 7-phased Lok Sabha elections in 25 parliamentary constituencies came to an end on Sunday evening in Gujarat, where polling would take place on May 7.

The parliamentary seats where campaigning ended include all 25 seats barring Surat where a BJP leader was declared victorious unopposed. All 26 seats were in previous two general elections were won by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP is in direct contest with Congress on 23 seats and with AAP on 2 seats – Bharuch and Bhavnagar.

The prominent BJP contenders in Gujarat include union Home minister Amit Shah on Gandhinagar seat, union minister Parshottam Rupala on Rajkot seat and union minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Porbandar seat.

BJP had declared its candidate as early as two months before the polling date. Congress and AAP too declared many of its candidates early, which resulted in to a prolonged campaigning period. Among those who campaigned in the State include Prime Minister Narendrabhai Modi, HM Amit Shah, RM Rajnath Singh, BJP chief JP Nadda, Congress chief Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress GS Priyanka Gandhi, Gujarat BJP chief CR Patil, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel among others. The campaign took place in hot summer period. Polling date 7th of May is likely to have heat wave.

Kuldeep Arya, Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat explains the Slience Period which is effective for 48 hours from 6 pm today to 6 pm on polling day (7th May) in the State. pic.twitter.com/8POKN1kpq8

— DeshGujarat (@DeshGujarat) May 5, 2024

Along with 25-seat Lok Sabha seats, polling will also take place for by-polls of four vacant assembly seats that are Porbandar, Vijapur, Vaghodiya and Khambhat. BJP and Congress candidates are in direct contest in these seats.

Over 4.77 crore voters are registered and eligible to vote in Gujarat in Lok Sabha elections. Gujarat witnessed 63 to 64.50 percent turnout in last two Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to cast his vote at Nishan school in Ranip area of Ahmedabad for Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency candidate. BJP has fielded union HM Amit Shah on this seat. Shah would vote in Naranpura area of Ahmedabad.

The discourse around campaign 2024 in Gujarat was dominated by Kshatriya agitation against BJP Rajkot candidate Parshottam Rupala and his party. DeshGujarat