Gujarat Assembly polls: 4.75% voter turnout in first hour; Modi stands in queue, casts vote

An average 4.75 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in the first hour of the second and final phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections for 93 seats across 14 districts, the Election Commission said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel were among the early voters. Modi reached the polling station at Nishan High School in Ranip area of Ahmedabad city at around 9.30 am and waited in a queue for his turn to cast his vote. After coming out of the polling station, he flaunted his inked finger to the crowd that had gathered to cheer him. He then walked to his elder brother Soma Modi’s house located near the polling station.

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In the morning, Modi in a tweet appealed to people, particularly the young and women voters, to come in large numbers to exercise their franchise. He also urged those voting in the bypolls being held in different parts of the country “to turnout in large numbers and vote.”

Voting began at 8 am in 14,975 polling stations for the second phase of elections in 93 constituencies, out of the total 182 in Gujarat, spread across 14 districts of north and central regions.

Earlier in the morning, a Gujarat MLA who allegedly went missing on Sunday night, accused the BJP of sending goons to attack him with swords and kidnap him, forcing him to spend the night in a forest.

The MLA Kanti Kharadi is running from the Banaskantha seat which is among the 93 constituencies where voting is underway on Monday. Kharadi has filed an FIR against Ladhu Parghi, his BJP rival in the constituency.

The second phase of the elections will decide the fate of 833 candidates including Chief Minister Patel. District-wise, Gandhinagar recorded the highest turnout so far at 7.05 per cent, while Mahisagar district recorded the lowest turnout of 3.76 per cent, the Election Commission said in its update.

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As per constituency-wise data, Gandhinagar North recorded the highest turnout of 12.97 per cent between 8 am and 9 am. The BJP and the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP are contesting in all the 93 seats. The Congress is contesting in 90 seats and its alliance partner NCP has fielded two candidates. Among other parties, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) has fielded 12 candidates and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 44.

There are also 285 independent candidates in the fray. In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP won 51 of these 93 seats, Congress 39, while three seats went to independent candidates. In central Gujarat, the BJP had bagged 37 seats, outnumbering the Congress which got 22. But in north Gujarat, the Congress had won 17 seats while the saffron party got 14.

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