In Gujarat, polling began for the second and final phase of assembly elections today. Voting for the 93 seats spread over 14 districts including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Gandhinagar is taking place. Voting began at 8 am and will end at 5 pm.
Till 11 am, 19.17 percent voter turnout has been recorded in the phase. Prime minister Narendra Modi cast his vote at a polling booth set up at Nishan highschool in the Ranip area of Ahmedabad.
Talking to the media, Mr. Modi appealed to all the eligible voters to vote in large numbers. Chief minister Bhupendra Patel also cast his vote at Shilaj in Ahmedabad. Gujarat Chief electoral officer P Bharti also cast her vote in Gandhinagar.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure that no untoward incident happens during the polling.
A large number of security personnel have been deployed in the poll bound districts. A total of 833 candidates are in the fray in this phase including 69 women candidates.
The political fate of many prominent leaders including, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel along with seven ministers of his government and other BJP leaders like Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakur will be decided by voters in this phase. Congress leaders Sukhram Rathava, Jignesh Mavani, and Amit Chavda, are also in the fray in this phase.
