First phase polling ends in Gujarat

Voting ended peacefully on Thursday, November 13, 2012, in the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections with no untoward incident being reported.

Millions voted through the day in 87 of the 182 assembly constituencies in the state. The second phase will be held on Dec 17 and all votes of both phases counted Dec 20.

The elections see Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has ruled the state since 2001, making another bid for power against a disparate opposition.

By 3 p.m., an estimated 53 percent of the 18 million eligible to vote in the first phase of polling had exercised their franchise.

The final figures will be available later, an official in the Gujarat Election Commission.

An estimated 53% of the 18 million eligible to vote in the first phase of polling had exercised their franchise by 3 pm in 87 of the 182 assembly constituencies, officials said.

Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have said they will win but the election is widely seen as a virtual referendum on Modi's 11 years of controversial rule.

The third major player is the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) of former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, who parted ways with the BJP after giving up the chief minister's chair in October 2001.

The BJP has fielded candidates in all 87 seats, the Congress in 84, GPP IN 83 and the Bahujan Samaj Party in 79.

Queues began forming outside many polling booths even as balloting started at 8 am Within three hours, 18% had voted. The numbers kept rising amid pleasant weather.

Fifty-four of the 87 constituencies voting on Thursday lie in Saurashtra, Keshubhai Patel's known stronghold. But BJP strategists say the Keshubhai factor will not affect them majorly.

Fourth-eight seats in Surendranagar, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Amreli and Bhavnagar are considered very crucial and decisive as political observers are watching keenly on how former chief minister and 'bete noir' of chief minister Narendra Modi, Keshubhai Patel factor plays out in the region.

Narendra Modi on Thursday urged the voters in the state to vote in the polls.

"A vote is the foundation of a strong and vibrant democracy. I urge you all to exercise your franchise," tweets Narendra Modi.

There are a total of 846 candidates in the fray, including 46 women.

Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, said while casting his ballot that the heavy polling "shows how much dissatisfaction is there among the people (against Modi)".


Skoda for election observers. What happened to austerity drive - Headlines Today Deputy Editor Kartikeya Sharma tweeted this picture.

The Election Commission has made robust security arrangements to ensure that voting is carried out peacefully by deploying security forces in the areas going to polls in first phase.


Hard day for TV journalists. But nothing beats the rush of election reporting - Headlines Today Deputy Editor Kartikeya Sharma tweeted this picture.

Out of total 1,81,77,953 voters, there are 95,75,278 men, 86,02,557 women and 118 other voters who are likely to use their franchise.

EC has set up 21,261 polling stations and will use the same number of EVMs in the first phase polls.

Headlines Today Managing Editor Rahul Kanwal tweeted this picture of him having breakfast with Congress stalwart Shanker Vaghela.

Leaders like former Chief Minister and GPP president Keshubhai Patel, BJP state unit president R C Faldu, state finance minister Vajubhai Vala and state Congress president Modhvadia cast their vote in the early morning hours.

Voting of the second phase will take place on December 17 for the remaining 95 Assembly seats and counting will be held on December 20.