Guj records 68.70 per cent polling in 2nd phase
Gujarat recorded an estimated 68.70 per cent voter turnout in the second and final phase of polling for 93 Assembly seats on Thursday, the Election Commission said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also cast his ballot.
The figure is likely to go up as details are still being worked out, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha told reporters here.
While the polling was largely peaceful, two incidents of clashes were reported in Mehsana and Vadodara districts, police officials said.
The EC received complaints from five places that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were connecting to external devices via bluetooth, but after inquiry, it was found that there was “no substance” in the complaints, poll officials said.
Complaints of EVMs getting connected to the external devices via bluetooth were received from Patan, Kheda, Mehsana districts, Ghatlodia in Ahmedabad district and Godhra in Panchamahal district.
On Saturday, during the first phase of the Assembly polls, the Congress had complained that some EVMs in Porbandar were connecting to external devices via bluetooth. However, the EC had said that the apprehension of possible EVM tampering through bluetooth technology was baseless.
The EC on Thursday said that there were reports of malfunctioning of EVMs and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) at some places in Aravalli and Panchmahal districts.
Giving details of the two clashes, a police officer said at least three persons were injured in the first incident at Hasanpur village of Visnagar taluka in Mehsana, where workers of two different parties came to blows.
“The situation was under control and the polling process was not affected,” Mehsana Superintendent of Police (SP), Chaitanya Mandlik, said.
Another incident took place at Wankaner village of Savli taluka of Vadodara district, where some villagers got into a scuffle, the officials said.
Despite the morning chill, people could be seen queuing up outside the polling booths even before voting began at 8 am.
The prime minister cast his ballot after waiting in a queue at a polling booth in a school in Sabarmati constituency of Ahmedabad district.
He walked a certain distance to greet the people standing on both sides of the road outside the polling booth. Later, he stood on the foot-board of his car and waved to the crowd.
However, the Congress alleged that Modi’s roadshow was violation of the Model Code of Conduct and accused the EC of bias.
Apart from Modi, veteran BJP leader L K Advani, BJP president Amit Shah, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, state Congress president Bharat Solanki and Patidar leader Hardik Patel were among those who cast their ballot.
The prime minister’s mother Hiraba, who is in her 90s, cast her ballot at a booth in Gandhinagar.
Patidar quota agitation spearhead Hardik Patel and OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, who joined the Congress and is contesting from Radhanpur, voted in Viramgam.
Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer B B Swain told reporters that polling took place in more than 25,000 booths across 14 districts.
“We were live web-casting from 1,700 booths. Security had been properly deployed and the staff reached on time,” he said.
“We gave proper instructions to ensure that EVMs which face problems were changed in time so as to avoid any delays encountered during the first phase of polling,” Swain said.