9 years ago
The first phase of the Gujarat assembly election saw a voter turnout of 68 per cent as voting ended at 5 pm, Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti told reporters, adding the Election Commission expects the final turnout to reach the last election's figure of 71.3 per cent. The first phase of polling was held on 89 assembly constituencies in Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions. The voting turnout till 4 pm was over 60 per cent, according to the Election Commission. The voter turnout then climbed to 68 per cent by the time voting ended. A total of 977 candidates fought it out in the first phase of the Gujarat polls in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state. Prominent candidates are Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's Vijay Rupani (Rajkot West), and Congress's Shaktisinh Gohil (Mandvi) and Paresh Dhanani (Amreli). The Bharatiya Janata Party has been in power in Gujarat for an uninterrupted 22 years. The BJP is looking to stay in power for a fifth term, and the Congress is also hoping for an electoral revival. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi ran a high-decibel campaign ahead of the Gujarat polls. According to the Election Commission, 2.12 crore people were eligible to vote in the first phase of the election in Gujarat.
