Isudan Gadhvi was on Friday declared the chief minister candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party for Gujarat elections. Party chief Arvind Kejriwal made the announcement at a press conference in Ahmedabad.

The announcement came a day after the Election Commission said that Assembly polls in Gujarat will be held be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5. The results will be declared on December 8 along with the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

Last week, Kejriwal had asked the voters in Gujarat to suggest the Aam Aadmi Party through SMS, WhatsApp, voice mail and e-mail on who should be the chief minister candidate, PTI reported.

Gadhvi, a former journalist and television anchor, received 73% of the votes in the exercise. The president of AAP’s Gujarat unit, Gopal Italia was also in the fray.

The term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18.

In the Gujarat elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will be pitted against the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, which is attempting to emerge as a key player in the state after making inroads in the local body polls last year.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP had won 99 seats, seven more than the majority mark. The Congress, which won 77 seats, managed to improve its performance.