Gujarat Assembly election: A look at key players, constituencies in Phase 1

The high-decibel election campaign in Gujarat has boiled down to the battle of ballots as over 2 crore voters are set to decide the fate of 788 candidates in 89 assembly constituencies. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to further consolidate its position in a state it has been in power for 27 years, while the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party are looking to cash in on 'anti-incumbency' and issues like inflation and unemployment to get to power.

Around 23.9 million of the total 43.5 million voters of the state will be eligible to exercise their franchise on Thursday.

The voting will begin at 8 am and conclude at 5 pm.

Gujarat election 2022 Phase 1 voting: Follow LIVE updates here

A look at key seats in Phase 1 of Gujarat assembly election:

Jamnagar North (Jamnagar)

BJP's Rivaba Jadeja, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's wife, will be against Congress' Bipendrasinh Jadeja and AAP's Karsan Karmur from Jamnagar North. BJP has dropped the sitting MLA Dharmendrasinh Merubha. Jamnagar North seat also grabbed headlines due to a political tussle within Jadeja family as Rivaba's sister-in-law Naynaba Jadeja, who belongs to the Congress party, was seen campaigning for her party candidate from the seat. Speculations were rife regarding differences in the Jadeja family, however, Rivaba maintained that her husband, Ravindra Jadeja, supports her in her move and that it is only a matter of difference in ideology.

Morbi

Morbi became a talking point because of the bridge collapse tragedy that claimed over 130 lives. The BJP replaced the sitting Morbi MLA and minister Brijesh Merja with Kantilal Amrutiya, whose photographs of swimming in the Machchu river during the rescue operations went viral. Amrutiya is up against Congress' Jayantilal Jerajbhai Patel and AAP's Pankaj Ransariya.

The BJP has won the Morbi Assembly seat in 1995, 1998, 2002, 2007 and 2012 before Amrutiya lost to Merja, who was in Congress in 2017. Merja later joined BJP and won the by-polls from Morbi again.

Khambalia (Devbhoomi Dwarka)

AAP's chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi is contesting from this seat and is up against BJP's Mulu Ayar Bera and Congress' Vikram Madam. The battle is expected to be triangular as Congress won from the seat last time. The grand old party has however replaced its candidate for 2022 elections.

Rajkot West (Rajkot)

Rajkot West is the seat where Prime Minister Narendra Modi previously contested a by-poll in 2002. Former chief minister Vijay Rupani had also contested from the seat in the 2017 Assembly elections. The BJP has given a ticket to two-time Deputy Mayor Darshita Shah who is up against AAP's Dinesh Joshi and Congress's Mansukhbhai. The seat is considered a bastion of the BJP which the party has not lost since 1985.

Rupani won the seat by defeating Indranil Rajguru of INC with a margin of 53,755 votes in the 2017 Assembly elections.

Devbhoomi Dwarka

Pabubha Manek, the BJP candidate who has not lost a single election in the last 32 years, is up against Congress' Malubhai Kandoria, and AAP candidate Nakum Lakhmanbhai Boghabhai. Manek had won the first three elections as an independent (1990, 95, 98), then joined the Congress and won the seat in 2002. Later, he won the Assembly elections of 2007, 2012 and 2017 on a BJP ticket.

Talala (Gir Somnath)

The BJP has fielded Bhagwan Barad from the seat who is contesting against AAP's Devendra Solanki and Congress' Mansinh Dodiya. Barad had won the seat in the 2017 Assembly polls on a Congress ticket but switched to BJP following which he was given a ticket from the same seat. Barad is an influential leader of the Ahir community. He won from the Talala constituency in 2007 and 2017.

Katargam (Surat)

The seat is all set to witness an interesting battle this time in which AAP has fielded its state president Gopal Italia who is considered to be an influential Patidar leader, from the constituency. He played a key role in the Patidar quota agitation in 2015. He will face off against Congress candidate Kaplesh Variya, who belongs to the Prajapati community (OBC), and BJP candidate Vinodbhai Amrishbhai Mordiya.

Porbandar

A tough battle is expected on the Porbandar seat where the BJP has fielded its sitting MLA and four-time winner Babu Bokhiria once again. He is pitted against Congress candidate Arjun Modhwadia and AAP's Jeevan Jungi.

Bokhiria won the seat in 1995, 1998, 2012 and 2017. In 2002 and 2007, Bokhiria was defeated by his arch-rival and former Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhwadia. Both are face-to-face this time too.

Kutiyana (Porbandar)

Kandhalbhai Jadeja, son of late don Santokben Sarmanbhai Jadeja, is contesting on the Samajwadi Party ticket. He had won the 2017 Assembly elections on the NCP ticket, however, quit the party recently after he was denied a ticket. He is pitted against BJP's Dheliben Odedra, AAP's Bhimabhai Makvana, and Congress' Nathabhai Odedra. The voting in Gujarat will take place on December 1 and 5, and the counting of votes will be held on December 8.