62.24% voting recorded till 4 pm in second phase of polling in Gujarat Assembly Elections. Voting concluded at 5 pm.
Voting for the second and final phase of Gujarat assembly elections began today on 93 seats of North and Central Gujarat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP patriarch L K Advani and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are among the saffron heavyweights expected to exercise their franchise.
While Modi will cast his vote at Sabarmati Assembly constituency, Advani is expected to exercise his franchise at Jamalpur-Khadia seat and Jaitley in Vejalpur constituency, all located in Ahmedabad, a party release said.
Advertisement
LIVE UPDATES
- Senior BJP leader LK Advani cast his vote in Ahmedabad District's Jamalpur Khadiya.
- Congress accused the Election Commission seems of working 'under pressure from the PM and PMO' after PM Modi allegedly held a road show today on the last day of the polling.
- Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer BB Swain said there were two complaints regarding presence of Bluetooth in polling booths in Ghatlodia and Mehsana.
- 39% voting recorded till 12 pm.
- There were reports of malfunctioning of electronic voting places (EVMs) and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) at some places in Aravalli and Panchmahal districts.
Voting in the 93 seats of North and Central Gujarat regions was otherwise proceeding peacefully, Election Commission officials said.
Advertisement
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi casts vote in Sabarmati's Ranip locality. BJP's sitting MLA Arvind Patel is up against Congress' Jitubhai Patel from Sabarmati seat.
- Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel cast his vote in Viramgam.
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley cast his vote in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur and urged the people of Gujarat to vote in huge numbers to continue the journey of development with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"The 'Vikas' (development and growth) journey of Gujarat is in progress and we have already done a tremendous work in past 22 years. I appeal to the people of Gujarat that they come in huge numbers for voting and maintain the journey of development with the BJP," Jaitley briefed media after casting his vote in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur.
-Shankersinh Vaghela cast his vote in Gandhinagar's Vasan village. The BJP hopes to improve its tally in central Gujarat in the ongoing Assembly election, convinced that former chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela's decision to quit the Congress will work in its favour.
-BJP President Amit Shah cast his vote in Naranpura.
- PM Modi's mother Heeraben cast her vote in a polling booth in Gandhinagar. After casting her vote, the prime minister's mother, who is in her 90s, showed her inked finger to mediapersons outside the poll booth.
"May God bless Gujarat," she told the reporters while emerging out of the poll booth.
Advertisement
- Former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel cast her vote in Ahmedabad's Ghatlodia. BJP's Bhupendra Patel is up against Congress's Shashikant Patel on this seat.
After an acrimonious campaign, around 2.22 crore voters would be exercising their franchise to choose between the two main contenders, the BJP and the Congress.
A total of 851 candidates are in the fray for the second phase.
Prominent candidates in the fray for today's battle include state deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, who is contesting from Mehsana, Alpesh Thakor (Radhanpur), and Jignesh Mevani (Vadgam).
In Maninagar, the constituency once represented by Prime Minister Naredra Modi, Congress has given ticket to foreign- educated young face Sweta Bhrambhatt against BJP's sitting MLA Suresh Patel. Modi had vacated the constituency after becoming the PM in 2014.
Advertisement
The first phase of voting for the 182-member house, held on December 9, covered 89 seats.
The election is being seen as a "prestige battle" for Prime Minister Modi and a litmus test for the leadership of Congress President-elect Rahul Gandhi.
The battlefield Gujarat which witnessed a vitriolic campaign goes into the decisive phase today, in the elections being viewed as precursor to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The influential Patidar community, which accounts for around 12 per cent of the state's population, could prove to be the 'X factor' in the polls. Patidar quota warrior Hardik Patel has pledged support to the Congress and appealed to the people to "uproot the BJP" this time.
Advertisement
The campaign shaped up as a duel between Modi and Gandhi, and often turned personal.
Gandhi emerged as the Congress' pivot to take on the might of the prime minister on his home turf.
In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP had won 115 seats, while the Congress bagged 61. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.
(Inputs from agencies)
