A voter turnout of 58.80 percent was recorded till 5 pm on Monday across 93 seats in the second phase of the Assembly elections in Gujarat, where polling was peaceful barring a few untoward incidents, the Elections Commission (EC) said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Sukhram Rathva of the Congress were prominent among those who cast their votes in the second and final phase of elections to the 182-member Assembly.
The state administration received complaints of malfunctioning of EVMs (electronic voting machines) and VVPATs (voter verifiable paper audit trails) from many places due to which voting at those booths was impacted. The provisional voter turnout in the second phase, covering 93 seats across 14 districts of north and central regions of Gujarat, till 5 pm was 58.80 percent, the EC said, adding the figure is expected to increase as many people were still standing in queues at many booths.
The provisional figure released by the EC for the second phase at 5 pm is expected to rise further as collecting data from some polling stations takes time and the number does not include postal ballots. The final voter turnout in the second phase of the 2017 Assembly election on these 93 seats stood at 69.99 percent. The turnout in the first phase of the 2022 elections across 89 Assembly seats, where voting took place on December 1, was 63.31 percent. Gujarat had registered 68.41 percent voting in the Assembly polls five years ago.
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# PM Modi did not do any road show: Gujarat BJP leader
Congress has the right to complain but PM Modi did not do any road show today. He did not violate any rules. He walked from the car to the voting centre. Those naming this as a road show are clearly showing their disappointment: Gujarat BJP chief CR Patil at Gandhinagar
# Patients, centenarians, transgender persons come out to vote in Gujarat polls
Bed-ridden people, patients on oxygen support, senior citizens including centenarians, and transgender persons were among those who came out to vote in the Gujarat Assembly elections on Monday, setting an example for others to exercise their democratic right. Physically challenged Ankit Soni, who was born without arms, took everyone by surprise as he used his toes to sign a form at the polling booth and push the button on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in Nadiad town of Kheda district.
# Over 58 percent voter turnout recorded till 5 PM, says Election Commission
# 50.51 percent voter turnout recorded till 3 pm, says Election Commission.
# During the polling day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did a roadshow of two & half hours while he went to cast his vote. We will appeal to EC against it, seems like Election Commission is willingly under pressure, says Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera.
# Police bring the situation under control at Keshavpura polling station under Anklav assembly constituency in Anand where a scuffle between BJP and Congress workers reportedly took place during polling.
# A differently-abled voter casts his vote for the second phase of Gujarat Assembly Polls in Nadiad, Kheda.
# Gujarat elections: 34.74% voter turnout recorded till 1 pm
# AAP's CM candidate Isudan Gadhvi casts his vote at a polling station in Ahmedabad and expects his party to win 51 plus out of 89 seats in the first phase and 52 plus seats in the second phase. "I appeal to people to step go to polling stations and vote. Choose whoever you want but you will be able to demand answers from political leaders only if you vote," said Isudan Gadhvi.
# Gujarat Election Phase 2 Latest Updates: 19.17% voter turnout recorded till 11 am
#VIDEO | PM Modi's brother Somabhai Modi gets emotional
"People cannot ignore the kind of work Centre has done after 2014. I asked him (PM Modi) that he works a lot for the country, he should take some rest as well," said Somabhai Modi.
#Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother Heeraben Modi casts her vote
# "I see a change of 27-year-long BJP rule," says Former Gujarat CM Shankersinh Vaghela
# WATCH | Amit Shah briefs the media after casting his vote
# Union Home Minister Amit Shah cast his vote. He said, "I appeal to everyone to vote, especially the first-time voters - the young girls and boys should vote."
# BJP candidate from Viramgam Hardik Patel cast his vote for the second phase of Gujarat Assembly elections at Polling Booth 264 in Chandranagar Primary School.
# Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel cast her vote for the second phase of Gujarat assembly polls at Polling Booth 95, Shilaj Anupam School
# BJP candidate from Viramgam, Hardik Patel, appealed to everyone to vote. "The BJP has maintained law and order and has worked for the development of Gujarat. I want all Gujaratis to vote for the BJP. We should exercise our power to vote as election is the beauty of democracy," he said.
# "The Congress is winning. Our candidate Kanti Kharadi was attacked last night and were untraceable for three hours. We called up the EC, reached Gandhinagar at 1.30 am and called them to come there. Complaints by our other candidates are also coming," Gujarat Congress chief Jagdish Thakor said.
# Gujarat Election 2022: 4.75% voter turnout recorded till 9 am, Gandhinagar highest with over 7% turnout, followed by Mehsana with 5.44 percent
# PM Modi casts his vote in Ahmedabad
(Credit: Twitter/PM Modi)
# Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel casts his vote for the second phase of Gujarat Assembly elections at Booth 95, Shilaj Anupam School.
Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel (Credit: ANI)
# PM Modi greets people on his way to Nishan Public school, Ranip to cast his vote for Gujarat Assembly elections.
# Congress tribal leader claims he was attacked by BJP workers ahead of voting
After the Congress alleged on Sunday night that tribal leader Danta constituency candidate Kanti Kharadi had been attacked by BJP "goons" and had "gone missing", Kharadi in the early hours on Monday told ANI, "Whatever happened is unfortunate. I was going to my area as there’s election. I saw that the atmosphere was heated there so I decided to escape."
He was quoted by News 18 as saying, "While our car was returning, some cars chased us. BJP candidate (from Danta constituency) Latu Parghi and two others came with weapons, with swords. We thought we must escape, we ran for 10-15 km and for two hours we were in the jungle."
# Congress leader Bharat Solanki votes in Botad
After casting his vote, Bharat Solanki said, "Congress received massive support in Saurashtra & south Guj in phase 1. Today, north Gujarat and central Gujarat are going to polls and you can see long queues. Come Dec 8, Cong will come to power with majority".
# Prime Minister Narendra Modi left from Gandhinagar Raj Bhawan to cast his vote for the Gujarat Assembly elections at Nishan Public School, Ranip.
# Gujarat Elections 2022: Vote in large numbers, says BJP chief JP Nadda
BJP President JP Nadda on Twitter said, “Today is the second and last phase of polling in Gujarat. I appeal to all the voters, especially the young friends, to vote in large numbers to ensure the continuity of the state’s development.” “Gujarat has always played a role in making democracy prosperous and mature, you are the bearer of this tradition,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
# Voting in 93 assembly constituencies begins.
# Prime Minister Narendra Modi will cast his vote in Ahmedabad on Monday when polling for the second and final phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections will be held. He will exercise his franchise at Nishan School, Ranip in Ahmedabad on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will cast his vote at Muncipal Sub Zonal Office, near Kameshvar Temple, Ankur in Ahmedabad's Naranpura. Shah is likely to arrive at the polling station at around 10:30 am on Monday.
# Gujarat Elections 2022 Phase 2: Preparations are underway at Ahmedabad polling booth where PM Modi will vote. "Women battalion of the CRPF have been deployed in various parts of Ahmedabad to maintain law and order situation. A total of 18 sections have been made with commanders. Personnel deployed at every booth to maintain peace and discipline," Vidhya M, CRPF, said.
# Preparations underway at Nishan Public school, Ranip where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will cast his vote in Gujarat polls.
# Congress ex-President Rahul Gandhi alleged that his party's candidate from Danta, Kanti Kharadi was brutally attacked by BJP goons and has now gone missing.
First Published: Dec 5, 2022 5:28 AM IST
