Gujarat Assembly polls 2022 | BJP confident of a repeat show even as a "silent" Congress slugs it out and AAP splits votes

Congress is carrying out a silent campaign in Kutch by reaching out to the masses in every remote corner of the region, trying to encash anti-incumbency against the BJP.

The BJP is confident of maintaining its winning streak in Kutch district in Gujarat Assembly polls even as the Congress is carrying out a silent campaign in rural areas and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is setting the stage for a three-cornered fight by throwing its hat in the ring.

The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is contesting in two minority-dominated seats.

Kutch, which goes to polls in the first phase on December 1, has six Assembly constituencies - Abdasa, Bhuj, Rapar- all bordering Pakistan, and Mandvi, Anjar and Gandhidham.

The district has around 16 lakh voters spread across the six constituencies, out of which male and female voters are equally proportionate. Muslims comprise around 19 per cent of the total electorate, whereas the Dalits comprise around 12 per cent, and the Patels, including the Leuvas and Kadvas, constitute about 10.5 per cent.

The Kshatriya and the Koli communities comprise around 6.5 per cent and 5.2 per cent of the electorate, respectively.

Although Dalits, Kshatriyas, Kolis, Brahmins, and Rajputs have been the committed voters of the saffron camp for the last two decades, a large section of the Patels, who have been with the BJP till 2012, went against the saffron camp following the 2015 Patidar agitation.

The Congress, on the other hand, has been the first choice of minorities and also for a section of Patels, Kshatriyas in rural areas, and other smaller communities like the Rabari.