Gujarat assembly elections 2017: Campaigning for first phase comes to end today, polling on Dec 9

The high-octane campaign for the first phase of the crucial Assembly polls in Gujarat, which has seen as a make or break situation for both ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Congress party, came to end on Thursday.

The first phase, scheduled on 9 December, will see a total of 89 out of 182 seats in the politically crucial Saurashtra and South Gujarat going to polls. Votes will be counted on December 18. The BJP has ruled the state for the last 22 years.

Some of the key districts going to polls in first phase include Rajkot, Junagadh, Amreli, Morbi, Kutch and Surendranagar.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday castigated senior Congress leader and lawyer Kapil Sibal for seeking deferment of hearing of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute till after the 2019 general polls and wondered if such an issue should be kept unresolved for political gains and losses.

OneIndia News