Gujarat Assembly Election 2022: Top 5 Fights In First Phase

Gujarat will vote for a new government in two phases in this year's big assembly election. The polls will see an intense fight between the ruling BJP, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The BJP will aim to retain power in one of its strongholds while the Congress is trying to make a comeback after decades. Arvind Kejriwal's AAP is looking to expand its reach after its victory in Punjab.

The Gujarat assembly has 182 seats. Of these, 89 constituencies will go to polls in the first phase on December 1.

Here are the key battles in phase 1:

1. For Morbi constituency, which saw a deadly bridge collapse, the BJP has fielded former MLA Kantilal Amrutiya against Congress's Jayantilal Patel. After the cables of the bridge snapped on October 30, Mr Amrutiya was seen in videos wearing a life tube and trying to rescue people. The BJP had dropped MLA Brijesh Merja to give the ticket to 60-year-old Kantilal Amrutiya.

2. Ghatlodia constituency in Ahmedabad, which is one of BJP's strongholds, will see an intense fight between Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Amee Yajnik of the Congress. The seat has given two chief ministers to the state including Anandiben Patel.

3. Hardik Patel, who quit Congress in May this year, will contest from Viramgam on a BJP ticket. The Congress has fielded Lakha Bharwad, who won the seat in 2017. The AAP candidate from the seat is Aamrsinh Thakor.

4. Jamnagar North is another important constituency in the first phase. The BJP candidate is Rivaba Jadeja, wife of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, while Congress has fielded Bipendrasinh Jadeja. Karsan Karmur, who quit the BJP last year, is the AAP candidate.

5. BJP's Pabubha Manek has been fielded from Dwarka seat against Congress's Mulu Kandoriya and Lakhmanbhai Nakum of the AAP. The Congress and AAP have a tough task in this seat because Pabubha Manek hasn't lost an election since 1990.