Ahmedabad, Jun 19 (PTI) A voter turnout of more than 54 per cent was recorded in both Visavadar and Kadi assembly constituencies in Gujarat during the bypolls till 5 pm on Thursday, officials said.
The polling, which commenced at 7 am, concluded peacefully at 6 pm, they said.
As per the data shared by the Election Commission, the Visavadar seat in Junagadh district and Kadi in Mehsana district recorded a voter turnout of 54.61 per cent and 54.49 per cent, respectively, till 5 pm.
As voting began, people queued up at polling booths in the morning, with candidates from the BJP and Congress in Visavadar being among the early voters. Votes were cast through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at 294 polling stations in each constituency. The counting of votes will take place on June 23.
No untoward incident causing poll disruptions was reported in any of the two seats, as the process went off largely peacefully, the officials said.
The state government had declared a public holiday on Thursday in both the constituencies for voting.
The BJP, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had fielded their candidates on both these seats.
The Visavadar seat was lying vacant since December 2023, after the then AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP.
While the BJP nominated Kirit Patel for the bypoll in Visavadar, Congress fielded Nitin Ranpariya. AAP's former Gujarat president Gopal Italia was also in the fray.
Despite its near-total dominance in the state, the BJP has not won the Visavadar seat since 2007. Party leaders said they are hopeful of overcoming the 18-year jinx here.
In the 2022 assembly election, AAP's Bhupendra Bhayani had defeated BJP's Harshad Ribadiya, a Congress turncoat and former MLA, by 7,063 votes.
The Kadi seat in Mehsana district, a constituency reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, has been lying vacant since February 4, following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki.
The BJP fielded Rajendra Chavda from the Kadi constituency, while from the Congress' side, former MLA Ramesh Chavda was in the fray. Ramesh Chavda had won the seat in 2012, but lost it to BJP's Karsanbhai Solanki in the 2017 election.
Like Visavadar, the Kadi seat witnessed a three-way fight with the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP fielding Jagdish Chavda.
In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP has 161 legislators, Congress 12 and AAP four. While one seat is with the Samajwadi Party, two are with independents.