The first phase of the Assembly elections in Gujarat saw 62.9% voter turnout on Thursday. 89 assembly seats went to polls yesterday, including the key region of Surat. Surat is known to be a BJP stronghold but the Aam Aadmi Party has campaigned extensively in the district, and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal has said they hope to win at least half of the 16 segments there.
Here are the updates on Gujarat elections:
The campaigning for the second phase of elections in 93 out of the total 182 seats in Gujarat will end this evening. BJP will hold roadshows and rallies of their star campaigners including UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will hold poll rallies in Dholka, Mahudha and Khambhat towns while Union minister Smriti Irani will hold roadshows in Modasa and Siddhpur.
PM Modi will address four public rallies in Kanakraj, Patan and Sojitra, and Ahmedabad, where he will hold a roadshow as well. Union Minister Amit Shah will also hold rallies in Bechraji, Vijapur, and Gandhinagar South and a roadshow in Vadodara. For the Congress, Ashok Gehlot and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will hold the rallies in Bhiloda and Gandhi Nagar South.
A moderate voter turnout of 60.23 per cent was recorded in the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls covering 89 assembly seats over the 19 districts, officials said on Thursday. Comparatively, the voter turnout was less than 66.75 per cent in the first phase of the 2017 Assembly polls.
Gujarat recorded 56.88 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm in the first phase of the assembly election today.
Barring a few minor incidents and some reports of problems in electronic voting machines (EVMs), the voting process, which commenced at 8 am, remained largely peaceful so far.
Actor Swara Bhasker today took part in Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain with party leader Rahul Gandhi. The official Twitter handle of the Indian National Congress shared a picture of Ms Bhasker with Rahul Gandhi.
As many as 26,269 ballot units, 25,430 control units and 25,430 VVPATs were being used in polling stations across the 19 districts where voting was being held in the first phase to decide the fate of 788 candidates.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday held a roadshow in the Mehsana district which will see polling in the second phase of the Assembly election.
A voters' turnout of 34.5 per cent was recorded at 1:00 pm during the first phase of Gujarat assembly elections. Polling is underway in 89 seats in the state in this phase.
Gujarat Home Minster Harsh Sanghavi cast his vote during the first phase of the assembly elections at a polling station in Surat today. He is contesting from the Majura constituency.
Gujarat | AAP candidate Alpesh Kathiriya casts his vote in the first phase of #GujaratAssemblyPolls, at a polling station in Surat. pic.twitter.com/KwUplgVdTb
- ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2022
#GujaratElections2022 | Union minister Darshana Jardosh casts vote in Surat.
- ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2022
She says "People are voting for double-engine govt in the state. People from every community have been voting and we'll be forming govt with an absolute majority." pic.twitter.com/0GPXo0I84F
Gujarat recorded a voters' turnout of 18.9 per cent till 11 am. The first phase of voting is currently underway in the state.
#GujaratElections2022 | Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya interacts with villagers, before casting his vote, in Hanol village in Bhavnagar district. pic.twitter.com/QHj6RtMf7E
- ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2022
As Gujarat voted today in the first round of a two-part election, BJP candidate Rivaba Jadeja, wife of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, said she saw "no difficulty" in contrasting ideologies within her family. Read here.
Gujarat BJP chief CR Paatil today cast his vote for the first phase of Gujarat Elections at a polling station in Surat. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's magic works every time and everywhere. He's in people's hearts. They trust him and he is capable of meeting their expectations," he said before he went to cast his vote.
We are advocating a change. Chief Ministers were changed, so they can feel anti-incumbency. There is a neck-to-neck fight here (Ankleshwar): Mumtaz Patel, late senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel's daughter #GujaratElections2022 pic.twitter.com/GpTIyy2pDY
- ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2022
#GujaratAssemblyPolls | There's no difficulty. There can be people of different ideologies in same family. I've trust in people of Jamnagar, we will focus on overall development, and this time as well BJP will win with a good margin: BJP's Rivaba Jadeja after casting her vote pic.twitter.com/P4Il0MLaDo
- ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2022
Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani and his wife Anjali Rupani cast their votes at a polling station in Rajkot, in the first phase of #GujaratAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/Kvain9rjCU
- ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2022
A BJP candidate was attacked by unidentified men in Gujarat's Vansda late last night. Piyush Patel, spokesperson of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), is contesting the election from Vansda in Navsari district where voting is underway in the first phase.
Today is the first phase of the Gujarat elections. I call upon all those voting today, particularly first time voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 1, 2022
"Gujarat is celebrating festival of democracy today. Participate in this festival of democracy in maximum numbers and set a new record of voting."
"Gujarat is celebrating festival of democracy today. लोकतंत्र के इस पर्व में अधिक से अधिक भाग लेकर मतदान का नया कीर्तिमान स्थापित करें "- CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar message to all voters of Gujarat. #GujaratElections2022 #ECI#EveryVoteMatters#NoVoterToBeLeftBehind pic.twitter.com/LTHDius9hK
- Election Commission of India #SVEEP (@ECISVEEP) December 1, 2022
As Gujarat is all set to vote for the first phase of the assembly elections, Jambur, India's 'mini African village' will vote in its special tribal booth for the first time.
#Watch | People of Gujarat's mini African village- Jambur, celebrated their first opportunity to vote in their own special tribal booth (30.11)#GujaratElections pic.twitter.com/LFrG6q8ukT
- ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2022
Voting in the Gujarat assembly elections will be conducted in two phases on December 1 and December 5. Eighty-nine seats will go to polls in phase one.
Gujarat Assembly Election 2022 Phase 1: 5 Key ContestsVoting in the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections will take place on December 1. Voting for 89 seats of the 182-member assembly will take place in phase one. The voting will be held between 8 am and 5 pm on Thursday. Read here
Voting will be held tomorrow for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections in 89 seats spread across 19 districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of the state where 788 candidates are in the fray. Read here
