GANDHINAGAR, February 27: An estimated 2.87 crore voters would exercise their franchise tomorrow hoping that Gujarat returns to political stability after much turmoil, as the State goes to both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, being held simultaneously after 31 years.The electorate would decide the fate of 139 candidates in 26 Lok Sabha constituencies, going to polls in the single-phase elections here.In the concurrent Assembly elections for 182 seats, the fate of 1,125 candidates would be sealed in ballot boxes and the counting for both will start on March 2.Buoyed by the victory of Kalyan Singh Government in Uttar Pradesh in an unprecedented composite floor test, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which lost power in Gujarat even while it possessed two-third majority, will try its best to take over the reins once again.Stakes are extremely high for the saffron brigade, which is trying hard to increase its tally of Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat, as it is aiming for power at the nationallevel.The Congress on the other hand, rejuvenated by massive rallies of its chief campaigner Sonia Gandhi, is looking to regain the lost bastion.The BJP had won 16 Lok Sabha seats while the Congress took the rest in the dissolved 11th Lok Sabha. The BJP has fielded candidates in all the 26 Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress is contesting from 25, after its nominee in Rajkot, decided to contest from Porbandar on RJP ticket.
