37.83% polling recorded till 1 pm in 25 LS seats of Gujarat; PM Modi, Shah among voters

A woman ties 'rakhi' to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he meets people after casting his vote at a polling station during the third phase of Lok Sabha elections, in Ahmedabad. Photo: PTI

A voter turnout of 37.83 per cent was recorded till 1 pm in 25 Lok Sabha seats of Gujarat in the third phase of the general elections on Tuesday, an Election Commission (EC) official said.

As many as 265 candidates are in the fray for 25 out of 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged the Surat seat unopposed after eight out of nine eligible candidates withdrew their nomination forms. BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared the winner.

"An average 37.83 per cent voter turnout was recorded between 7 am and 1 pm in Gujarat," the official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Chief Electoral Officer for Gujarat, P Bharathi were among the early voters.

While PM Modi cast his vote at Nishan School in the Ranip area of the city, Shah exercised his franchise at a polling booth in the Naranpura area, both of which fall under the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, which Shah is seeking to retain.

As per the data shared by the EC, the Banaskantha constituency in north Gujarat recorded the highest turnout of 45.89 per cent, while the Porbandar seat in the Saurashtra region saw the lowest turnout of 30.80 per cent between 7 am and 1 pm.

Voters turned up in large numbers at the polling booths in the early hours, as long serpentine queues could be seen outside several booths.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, industrialist Gautam Adani and spiritual leader Morari Bapu were among personalities from different fields who cast their votes in the state.

According to poll officials, the state has 4.97 crore voters, including 2.56 crore males, 2.41 crore females and 1,534 persons from the third gender.

Of the 50,788 polling booths, 17,275 are in the urban areas and 33,513 in rural parts of the state, they said.

Voting is also being held for the bypolls for five state assembly seats of Khambhat, Vijapur, Waghodia, Porbandar, and Manavadar.

The Congress is fighting the Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), hoping to prevent a division of opposition votes to stop the BJP from repeating its winning streak of 2014 and 2019.

As part of the alliance, the Congress, which has fielded four sitting and eight former MLAs, got 24 seats (including Surat), while the AAP has been given Bhavnagar and Bharuch.