Gujarat polls: 1,828 candidates in fray for 182 seats

A total of 1,828 candidates are going to contest for 182 seats in the Gujarat Assembly elections scheduled in December 2017, according to data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The state assembly elections will conducted over two phases on 9 and 14 December.

This year Assembly elections will see the highest number of candidates from Mehsana seat, 34 candidates are contesting from one seat. Of the 34 candidates who will contest from Mehsana seat, Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Nitin Patel, is one of the candidates for the Mehsana seat.

Amongst the 1,828 candidates, 977 will contest in the first phase and 851 candidates will contest for the second phase. Out of 977, 89 are from BJP and 87 are from Congress. For Mehsana, Jamnagar Rural, Jamnagar North, Botad, Viramgam, 22-34 candidates will be contesting from each seat. Botad seat has 25 candidates who will contest from the same seat. Former Gujarat Finance Minister Saurabh Patel will also contest from Botad.

Statistically in 1995, there were 2,545 candidates, while 1990 just saw 1,889 candidates for assembly elections, and 2,545 candidates had contested in 1995 polls. 1,666 candidates had contested in 2012, and 1,180 candidates in 2007 .

The seat that has the lowest number of candidates is an ST seat from Bhiloda. It only has 2 candidates contesting from the same seat. Similarly, Anand, Morva Hadaf, Zaghadia has 3 candidates each contesting from the same seat. Viramgam has 22 candidates, and Jamnagar North has 24 candidates.

Besides, the candidate from major political parties- BJP and Congress, there are 441 independent candidates who will contest in the first phase.

The yearly breakup of the number of candidates who contested the Gujarat Assembly elections shows a steady and continuously increasing trend in number of applicants: