2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election
The 14th Gujarat Legislative Assembly election, 2017 was held on 9 December 2017 and 14 December 2017. The counting of votes took place on 18 December. All 182 members of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly were elected with the leader of the largest party or coalition expected to become the next Chief Minister. The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party obtained a simple majority with an increase in the vote share. Despite suffering a decrease in number of seats, the incumbent government retained their simple majority in the house. The next election will be in 2022.
in India
Background
Gujarat, as a state of India follows Parliamentary system of government similar to other states. The Government is responsible to the Legislative Assembly and stays in power only if it has the support of majority members. Elections take place on a first past the post basis, the candidate with the most votes wins the seat regardless of absolute majority. Every citizen of the state, who is 18 and above is eligible to vote. The Governors of States of India then invites the leader of the largest party or coalition to form the government. The Constitution of India states that the term of Legislative Assemblies is five years. As is common in most other first past the post electoral systems, the state's politics are dominated by two parties – the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.The term of current Gujarat Legislative Assembly ends on 22 January 2018. The previous assembly election, held in 2012 resulted in BJP gaining a majority of seats and Narendra Modi becoming the Chief Minister. After the 2014 General Elections, Modi became the Prime Minister of the country and Anandiben Patel was appointed the Chief Minister of Gujarat. After the agitations of Patidars, Dalit protests and claims of poor governance, she was replaced by Vijay Rupani as the Chief Minister by the party.
Electoral process changes
-fitted EVMs were used in entire Gujarat state at 50,128 polling stations in the 2017 elections, which was the first time that the entire state saw the implementation of VVPAT. VVPAT slips were counted in a polling station each of Gujarat's 182 constituencies.There were 43.3 million registered voters in Gujarat as on September 25, 2017.
| Group of voters | Voters population |
| Male | 2,25,57,032 |
| Female | 2,07,57,032 |
| Third gender | 169 |
| Total voters | 4,33,14,233 |
Demographics
, excluding Muslim OBCs, comprised 40% of the total population of Gujarat. 147 communities were considered to be OBCs at the time of the election. Scheduled tribes comprised 15.5% of the population, while scheduled castes totalled 7%. Muslims of various castes constituted 9.7% of the population. Forward castes and others made up the remainder.Opinion polls
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Date published | |||
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Date published | BJP | INC | Others |
| ABP News | August 31, 2017 | 59% | 29% | 12% |
| India-Today | October 24, 2017 | 48% | 38% | 14% |
| Times Now | October 25, 2017 | 52% | 37% | 11% |
| ABP News | November 9, 2017 | 47% | 41% | 12% |
| ABP News | December 4, 2017 | 43% | 43% | 14% |
| Times Now | December 6, 2017 | 45% | 40% | 15% |
| Republic TV | December 6, 2017 | – | – | – |