Ahmedabad, April 11 Candidates rushed to file their papers on the last day for submitting nominations for the April 26 local body elections in Gujarat, where the main contest is expected between the BJP, Congress, and the AAP.
According to the schedule announced by the State Election Commission, scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 13, and candidates can withdraw from the race until April 15.
Counting of votes is scheduled for April 28.
Several candidates who received party mandates at the last moment hurried to submit their papers on Saturday, while some of those who were denied tickets expressed their dissatisfaction.
In addition to the BJP, Congress, and AAP, the Nationalist Congress Party and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) are also participating, which will lead to multi-cornered contests in several places.
Notable candidates include former Gujarat-based IPS officer M L Ninama, former radio jockey Abha Desai, and former AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani.
Ninama, who recently retired and joined the BJP, has been nominated from the Odh seat in the Shamlaji taluka for the Arvalli district panchayat elections.
Bhupendra Bhayani, who resigned as an AAP MLA from Visavadar in 2024 and joined the BJP, has been nominated by the ruling party from the Bhesan seat of the Junagadh district panchayat.
Abha Desai, popularly known as 'RJ Abha', has been nominated by the Congress from ward number 10 of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation.
Elections will be held for 34 district panchayats, 260 taluka panchayats, 84 municipalities, and 15 municipal corporations, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, making it one of the largest electoral exercises in the state.
State Election Commissioner S Murali Krishna had said that there were over 4.18 crore eligible voters across 9,992 seats.
The polls are being held under revised norms for Other Backward Class (OBC) reservations, which required extensive delimitation and restructuring of wards in several districts.
Voting will be conducted between 7 am and 6 pm on April 26. If required, re-polling will be held on April 27, and the entire election process is expected to be completed by April 30, officials said.