Gujarat polls: First phase of voting ends, largely peaceful

Ahmedabad: Voting ended peacefully on Thursday in the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections with no untoward incident being reported, officials said. By 3 pm, an estimated 53 percent of the 18 million eligible to vote in the first phase of polling had exercised their franchise. [caption id=“attachment_556352” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PTI[/caption] 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 20 December. The elections see Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has ruled the state since 2001, making another bid for power against a disparate opposition. The final figures of voting will be available later, an official in the Gujarat Election Commission told IANS. The first phase of polls was an acid test for Gujarat Parivartan Party chief Keshubhai Patel because it will decide his political future. Out of the 87 Assembly seats where voting took place on Thursday, 54 are in Saurashtra, the stronghold of the GPP. The result of the first phase will also be important for the BJP and the Congress, as the fate of many of their senior leaders will be decided by the electorate. Ten ministers of the present BJP government faced the electorate in the first phase. Among them are Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala, Law and Agriculture Minister Dilip Sanghani, Fishery Minister Purshottam Solanki and Forest Minister Mangubhai Patel. In the Congress camp, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Arjun Modhwadia and Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly Shaktisinhh Gohil had their destinies locked in the electronic voting machines. There are 846 candidates fighting the polls in the first phase. The BJP has pitted candidates in all the 87 seats in the first phase while Congress has 84 candidates. The GPP has 83 candidates in the first phase of the Assembly polls. There are 383 Independent candidates fighting the first phase of polls. With inputs from IANS