Gujarat Polls: Modi Votes In Sabarmati
A voter turnout of 11.71% was registered in the first 2 hours of polling in second phase of the Gujarat elections.
A voter turnout of 11.71 percent was registered in the first two hours of polling in the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections, Election Commission officials said.
There were reports of malfunctioning of electronic voting places and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail at some places in Aravalli and Panchmahal districts.
Voting in the 93 seats of North and Central Gujarat regions was otherwise proceeding peacefully, Election Commission officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, state Congress President Bharat Solanki and Patidar leader Hardik Patel were among those who voted.
Despite the chill, several people could be seen queuing up outside polling booths even before voting began at 8 a.m.
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Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer BB Swain told reporters that polling was on in more than 25,000 booths across 14 districts.
"We are live web-casting from 1,700 booths. Security is properly deployed, and staff reached on time," he said.
We have given proper instructions to ensure that EVMs which encounter problems are changed in time so as to avoid any delay that was encountered during the first phase of polling.BB Swain, Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat
After an acrimonious campaign, voting for the second and final phase of Gujarat assembly elections is under way today in 93 seats of North and Central Gujarat.
Around 2.22 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise today to choose between the two main contenders, the BJP and the Congress. A total of 851 candidates are in the fray for the second phase.
The first phase of voting for the 182-member House, held on Dec. 9, covered 89 seats.
The election is being seen as a "prestige battle" for Prime Minister Modi and a litmus test for the leadership of Congress President-Elect Rahul Gandhi.