Legislative Assembly elections were held in Gujarat from 1 to 5 December 2022 in two phases, to elect 182 members of 15th Gujarat Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 8 December 2022.
The Bharatiya Janata Party won a landslide victory of 156 seats, the most ever won by any party in Gujarat's history. No other political party could win enough seats to be recognised as official opposition in the state. The Indian National Congress fell to its lowest count in the state for 3 decades, and the Aam Aadmi Party gained five seats.
Background The tenure of 14th Gujarat Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 18 February 2022. The previous assembly elections were held in December 2017. After the election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the state government, with Vijay Rupani becoming Chief Minister.
Vijay Rupani resigned from Chief Minister post on 11 September 2021 and he was succeeded by Bhupendra Patel as the new Chief Minister.
Since the last assembly elections, several bypolls were held, most of which were won by the BJP, taking their strength from 99 to 112 seats.
Local body elections
BJP swept the 2021 Gujarat local body elections by winning all corporation and district panchayats and Indian National Congress (Congress) gained majority in one municipality and 18 taluka panchayats. On one side BJP increased its strength and on the other side Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made significant inroads to be considered as a contender in the state.
In 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election, BJP lost in some districts of Saurashtra region due to farmer and Patidar agitation; notably in Amreli and Gir Somnath where it lost all seats to Congress. However, when panchayat elections were held in Amreli along with other districts, BJP gained a two-thirds majority translating to a lead on all five assembly segments of Amreli, while AAP gaining in rural Gujarat indicated that Gujarat is heading towards a three-cornered contest.
In the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation elections, BJP got a majority by winning 41 out of 44 wards while Congress got two seats. AAP won one seat and was the third largest party in terms of vote share, which indicated increasing acceptance of AAP as a third alternative. Congress dubbed the AAP as a 'B team' of the BJP for by dividing the anti-BJP votes, which ultimately favoured the BJP.
Schedule The election schedule was announced by the Election Commission of India on 3 November 2022.
Poll event PhaseIII Notification date 5 November 202210 November 2022 Last date for filing nomination 14 November 202217 November 2022 Scrutiny of nomination 15 November 202218 November 2022 Last date for withdrawal of nomination 17 November 202221 November 2022 Date of poll 1 December 20225 December 2022 Date of counting of votes 8 December 2022
Election statistics Source:
Registered voters Male 25,336,610 Female 23,751,738 Third Gender 1,417 Total 49,089,765
Candidates Male1,482 Female139 Total 1,621
Polling stations Urban areas 17,506 Rural areas 34,276 Total 51,782
Parties and alliances
Bharatiya Janata Party
+ No. Party Flag Symbol Leader Photo Seats contested1. Bharatiya Janata Party Bhupendrabhai Patel 182
United Progressive Alliance
Congress and NCP announced an alliance to contest the election together on 11 November 2022. + No. Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats contested1. Indian National Congress Jagdish Thakor 1792. Nationalist Congress Party Jayantbhai Patel Boskey 2 Total 181
Aam Aadmi Party
In May 2022, AAP announced alliance with Bharatiya Tribal Party for the election. However, the alliance was called off in September 2022. + No. Party Flag Symbol Leader Photo Seats contested1. Aam Aadmi Party Isudan Gadhvi 180
Others + No. Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats contested1. Bahujan Samaj Party Ashok Chavda 1012. Communist Party of India (Marxist) Hitendra Bhatt 93. Samajwadi Party Devendra Upadhyay 174. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Sabir Kabliwala 135. Bharatiya Tribal Party Chhotubhai Vasava 26
Candidates AAP released the first list of 10 candidates on 2 August 2022, the second list of 9 candidates on 18 August, the third list of 10 candidates on 7 September, the fourth list of 12 candidates on 6 October, the fifth list of 12 candidates on 16 October 2022, the sixth list of 20 candidates on 20 October 2022, the seventh list of 13 candidates on 28 October 2022, the eight list of 22 candidates on 1 November 2022, the ninth list of 10 candidates on 3 November 2022, the tenth list of 21 candidates on 5 November 2022, the eleventh list of 12 candidates on 7 November 2022, the twelfth list of 7 candidates on 8 November 2022, the thirteenth list of 12 candidates on 9 November 2022, the fourteenth list of 10 candidates on 10 November 2022 and the fifteenth list of 3 candidates on 12 November 2022. On 13 November 2022, AAP released the sixteenth list of 2 candidates including their Chief Ministerial candidate, Isudan Gadhvi contesting from Khambhalia constituency. AAP released the seventeenth list of 4 candidates on 15 November 2022. AAP candidate from Surat East withdrew his nomination on 16 November. AAP candidate from Abdasa retired his campaign in favour of BJP candidate on 28 November 2022.
Congress released the first list of 43 candidates on 4 November 2022, the second list of 46 candidates on 10 November 2022, the third list of 7 candidates on 11 November 2022, the fourth list of 9 candidates on 12 November 2022, the fifth list of 6 candidates and the sixth list of 33 candidates on 13 November 2022 and the seventh list of 37 candidates on 16 November 2022. NCP announced 3 candidates in alliance with Congress. NCP candidate from Devgadhbariya withdrew his nomination on 21 November 2022.
BJP released the first list of 160 candidates on 10 November 2022 and the second list of 6 candidates on 12 November 2022. BJP candidate from Wadhwan refused to contest election and was replaced in the third list on 13 November 2022. BJP released the fourth list of 12 candidates on 14 November 2022, the fifth list of 3 candidates on 16 November 2022 and the sixth list of 1 candidate on 17 November 2022.