From incumbent chief minister Bhupendra Patel to the BJP's Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor, from Congress' Jignesh Mevani to AAP's Isudan Gadhvi and Gopal Italia, the fate of many heavyweight candidates in Gujarat is being decided with the counting of votes for the state assembly elections underway.
Among the many big names in the electoral fray, some are facing tough challenges by less prominent names, while others are appearing to stand up to their reputation.
So, which of Gujarat's big netas are leading and which of them are trailing? Save this link and follow the interactive, as we update the leads real-time for all the key constituencies in Gujarat mentioned below.
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Like previous elections, the old political warhorses – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress – are locked in a head-to-head battle in most of the state's 182 Assembly constituencies. But this time, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also decided to go all in by fielding their candidates in almost all the seats, converting the traditionally binary contest in Gujarat into a triangular fight.
The Big Netas
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel is contesting from Gandhinagar's Ghatlodia constituency in Central Gujarat. He is facing Congress' Amee Yagnik and AAP's Vijay Patel.
AAP's chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi is contesting from Anand's Khambhalia, and is being challenged by BJP's Mulubhai Bera and Congress' Vikram Madam.
AAP heavyweight Gopal Italia is fighting the incumbent BJP MLA in Katargam constituency, Vinod Mordiya, and Congress' Kalpesh Variya.
Prominent Dalit rights leader and Congress working president Jignesh Mevani is fighting BJP's Manibhai Vaghela and AAP's Dalpat Bhatiya from Vadgam constituency. Mevani had won the seat in 2017 as an independent but is contesting this time on a Congress ticket.
Patidar movement leader Hardik Patel, who had switched parties from Congress to BJP, is contesting from Ahmedabad's Viramgam constituency. His opponents are Congress' Lakhabhai Bharwad and AAP's Amarsinh Thakor. Famous Dalit activist Kirit Rathod is also fighting from this constituency as an independent candidate.
Alpesh Thakor, another big Congress leader who jumped ship to BJP, is battling against Congress' Himanshu Patel and AAP's Dolat Patel in Gandhinagar South.
Another star candidate Rivaba Jadeja, wife of Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, is contesting for the BJP in Jamnagar North. She is facing Bipendrasinh Chatursinh Jadeja of Congress and Karsanbhai Karmur of AAP.
Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) founder Chhotubhai Vasava is contesting as an independent from his traditional Jhagadia seat, from where he has won seven times in a row. He will be fighting his son BTP chief Mahesh Vasava.
With the entry of Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, the contest for the Muslim-dominated Jamalpur-Khadia Assembly constituency in Ahmedabad has become a three-cornered one. AIMIM has fielded former Congress MLA Sabir Kabliwala from the constituency.
In Morbi, a place which hit the headlines recently over a bridge collapse that killed more than 130 people, BJP's Kantilal Amrutiya is facing Jayanti Patel of Congress and Pankaj Ransariya.
Among Congress' prominent names, Arjun Modhwadia is fighting from Porbandar constituency, and is up against Babubhai Bhimabhai Bokheriya of the BJP and Jeevan Jungi of the Aam Aadmi Party.
The 2022 Gujarat Assembly Election
The 2022 Gujarat election has been a hard-fought one. Voting for the 182 constituencies took place in two phases, on 1 and 5 December.
In all, there were 1,621 candidates in the fray. There were 788 candidates contesting in the 89 seats that went to polls in Phase 1, including 70 women candidates and 339 independents.
In the 93 seats in Phase 2, there were 833 candidates in all, including 69 female candidates and 285 independents.
There are a total of around 4.91 crore registered voters in Gujarat, of which around 51.6% are male voters and around 48.4% are female voters. There are also around 1,400 registered transgender voters.
Gujarat registered a voter turnout of 64.33% for these elections, a drop of over 4% compared with the turnout registered in the last Assembly polls in 2017.
In the 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections, BJP had won 99 seats and Congress had secured 77 seats. BJP leader Vijay Rupani had taken charge once again as the chief minister of the state. It was the sixth consecutive time that BJP had won the Gujarat Assembly election.
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