Gujarat polls: AAP to announce CM candidate tomorrow

New Delhi, Nov 03: Shortly after the the Election Commission announced the dates of Gujarat elections, the AAP said that it will announce its Chief Minister candidate on Friday.

Manoj Sorathiya, general secretary of the party's state unit, said that the AAP will announce the name of the CM candidate through public opinion.

"The atmosphere in Gujarat is signalling that AAP is going to form the government. We want to ask the people of Gujarat who should be the next chief minister, and for that, we are issuing a contact number and email ID ," Hindustan Times quoted him as saying.

The AAP had similarly announced the CM candidate for Punjab polls earlier after taking public opinion and registered a landslide victory.

Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5 with the counting of votes on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Thursday.

Of the total 182 assembly seats in Gujarat, voting for 89 seats will be held on December 1 and the remaining 93 seats on December 5.

The term of the Gujarat assembly ends on February 18, 2023 and the elections have been announced 110 days in advance, Kumar said. "It is a combination of multiple factors and we are well within the factors of consideration, including polls in nearby states," the chief election commissioner said.

On the other hand, BJP president J P Nadda welcomed the announcement of the Gujarat assembly polls and claimed that his party will again form "double engine" government in the state with a big majority under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.