In phase 2, Gujarat sees 58.80% voter turnout
AHMEDABAD: An average 58.80% voter turnout was recorded till 6pm on Monday in the second and final phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections covering 93 seats across 14 districts of north and central regions, the Election Commission said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, Aam Aadmi Party’s chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi and leader of opposition in the state assembly Sukhram Rathva were among those who cast votes.
Voting began at 8am across 14,975 polling stations and will continue till 5pm.
The electoral fate of CM Bhupendra Patel and 832 other candidates, including 285 Independents, will be decided in the second phase.
The voting percentage was lower in the urban areas like Naroda ( 45.25%), Asarwa (45.40%) and Dariapur (47.14%) in Ahmedabad as compared to Chhota Udaipur (56.67%), Jetpur (64.10%), Devgadh Baria (60.48%) and Deodar (74.02%) in rural and tribal areas.
The poll body said in the first three hours after voting began, 41 ballot units, 40 control units and 109 voter-verifiable paper audit trails ( VVPATs) were replaced due to malfunctioning.
PM Modi exercised his democratic right at a polling station at Nishan High School in Ahmedabad city’s Ranip area in the morning.
His centenarian mother Hiraba cast her vote at a polling station in Gandhinagar district.
Union minister Shah cast his vote at a municipal centre in Naranpura locality in Ahmedabad city.
The prime minister said the state’s people listen to everybody, but it is their nature to accept what is true.
He also congratulated the Election Commission for conducting the polls in a “spectacular manner” and raising the prestige of India’s democracy in the whole world.
He said the voters of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi celebrated “the festival of