The voting for the final phase of Gujarat Assembly elections are underway in 93 seats across 14 districts in the central and north regions of the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah casted their votes in home town on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi casts his vote at a polling station in Ranip area of Ahmedabad. While HM Shah along with his wife Sonal Shah and son Jay Shah casted their votes at a polling booth in Naranpura area.
PM's mother Hiraba also casted her vote at a polling booth in Raysan village near Gandhinagar city. She reached the polling booth in a wheelchair with the help of Modi's brother Pankaj Modi and other family members.
A total of 833 candidates are in the fray including 285 independents. The voting started in a slow pace, 4.75 per cent voter turnout recorded till 9 am in the morning.
PM Modi urged the people of Gujarat to vote in large numbers.
"Urging all those who are voting in Phase 2 of the Gujarat elections, particularly the young voters and women voters to vote in large numbers," PM Modi tweeted ahead of casting his vote.
After casting his vote at the polling station, PM Modi said that the voters of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi celebrated "the festival of democracy" with great enthusiasm.
"For the celebration of democracy, I heartily congratulate the citizens of the country and greet them. I also heartily congratulate the Election Commission. It has developed a great tradition of conducting elections in a very spectacular manner, increasing the prestige of India's democracy in the whole world," Modi told reporters.
BJP is seeking a seventh straight term in Gujarat, while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is looking forward to an entry.
The first phase of voting for 89 seats in Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat regions was held on December 1, when an average voter turnout of 63.31 per cent was recorded. However, the low turnout of voters in the first phase raised concerns for the ruling party. PM Modi conducted a whirlwind campaign for the BJP candidates on December 1 and 2, including two back-to-back road shows in Ahmedabad.
The counting of votes for the total 182 Assembly seats will be held on December 8.
A total of 2.51 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise for the second phase of elections, including 1.29 crore men and 1.22 crore women. According to Election Commission, there are 5.96 lakh voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years.
The poll body has set up 14,975 polling stations for which 1.13 lakh election staffers have been deployed.
According to reports crucial constituencies in the second phase of polls include Ghatlodia (in Ahmedabad district) of CM Bhupendra Patel, Viramgam seat (also in Ahmedabad) from where Patidar leader Hardik Patel is fighting on the BJP's ticket, and Gandhinagar South from where Alpesh Thakor is fighting as the saffron party candidate.
The BJP and the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP are contesting in all 93 seats. The Congress is contesting 90 seats and its alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in two segments.
Among other parties, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) has fielded 12 candidates and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 44.
In the 2017 state Assembly polls, the BJP won 51 of the 93 seats where polling is underway, Congress 39, while three seats went to Independent candidates. While in central Gujarat, the BJP had bagged 37 seats, outnumbering the Congress which got 22. But in north Gujarat, the Congress had won 17 constituencies while the saffron party got 14.
--With PTI inputs
