CM Rupani rules out early polls in Gujarat, dubs it Cong rumour

Ahmedabad: Rubbishing speculations about the possibility of early Assembly polls in Gujarat, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday said the elections would be held on schedule, during the later part of this year, and blamed the Congress for spreading such "rumours."

"I do not see any possibility of early Assembly polls. I believe that elections will be held on schedule. This is just a rumour spread by Congress to keep their workers busy. Otherwise, I don't believe that polls will be held early," Rupani told the reporters on the sidelines of a function.

Ever since Rupani took over reins from Anandiben Patel in a sudden change of guard in August last year, Gujarat Congress leaders have been saying there is a possibility that Assembly polls may take place early.

Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki had often asked the party cadres to gear up for the polls.

"BJP will face severe defeat in UP and Punjab, where polls will be held in the mid of 2017. BJP may not want to cloud their prospects in Gujarat with those defeats. Thus, it is highly possible that polls in Gujarat would take place simultaneously with Punjab and UP," Solanki had recently said.

The BJP has been in power in the state for nearly two decades and, for long, the ministry was headed by Narendra Modi before he became Prime Minister in 2014.