As per the tentative figures released by the election commission, 68% people cast their vote in the second phase of Gujarat elections 2017 on Thursday. The figure may vary a bit as the commission is still receiving inputs from different parts of the state. Sabarkantha district saw the maximum polling at 77 per cent. The voting began at 8 am and continued till 5 pm.

Delhi police detained Congress leaders and supporters from outside Election Commission of India’s office after they  launched a protest against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for violating the poll code after casting his vote and said they would “expose the double standards” of the EC for not punishing PM Modi for his alleged violation.

Congress party workers gheraoed the poll panel office in Delhi in response to the alleged inaction by the agency after PM Modi conducted a ‘mini-roadshow’ on Rapin, Ahmedabad on Thursday morning. After casting his vote, PM Modi exited the booth but instead of going straight to his car, as all other VIP voters had done through the day, the Prime Minister chose to walk on the road. He walked for a few kilometres as he turned this into a mini-road show, waving to cheering supporters.

Incidents of clashes were reported in various areas in Gujarat during polling:

Clash between two two communities in Hasanpur village near Visnagar in Mehsana.

A polling station in Jahapura village near Godhra was attacked by a group of people.

Reports of disturbances in Tower Bajar area in Anand.

Voter turnout till 2pm

While, Gandhinagar recorded a 46 per cent turnout, Sabarkantha was leading with 56.8 per cent till 2pm. Kheda recorded 46.42 per cent voter turnout, Banaskantha 45 per cent, Panchmahal 49 per cent, Arvalli had 47.66 per cent, Dahod 43.56 per cent, Anand 45 per cent and Baroda 50.29 per cent.

Around 50 per cent cases of faulty EVMs were reported in second phase elections, compared to first phase polling,  said Gujarat’s Chief Election Officer BB Swain.

Governer of Gujarat OP Kohli also cast his vote in Gandhinagar.

Earlier, the state witnessed slow polling in the early hours as by 10 am only around 12 per cent votes had been polled while complaints of EVM malfunctioning were reported in some places.

Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) president Amit Shah cast his vote in Naranpura, Ahmedabad, while Congress senior leader Shankersinh Vaghela joined the democracy’s festival in Gandhinagar’s Vasan village.

In Ahmedabad, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Gujarat’s Chief Election Officer BB Swain cast their vote and appealed people to vote in huge numbers.

According to reports, EVM’s malfunctioned in Vadodara, Chhota Udaipur, Juhapura, Aravalli, Khodiarnagar, Hawada, and Ahmedabad. However, replacements were done by poll officials.

In the second phase, 93 assembly constituencies across 14 districts in northern and central regions went for polling on Thursday.

The second phase of the assembly polls began at 8 a.m. in Gujarat on Thursday. The first phase of the Gujarat Elections 2017, held on December 9, registered over 60 per cent polling.

So far, the campaign has witnessed a bitter battle between the Congress party and the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is confident of a victory and has slammed the opposition during many rallies in his home ground Gujarat.

“Today is Phase 2 of the Gujarat elections. I request all those voting today to vote in record numbers and enrich this festival of democracy,” PM Modi said on Twitter on Thursday.

Newly elected Congress president Rahul Gandhi claimed that the public mood had undergone a radical change.

As many as 851 candidates are in the fray. A total of 25,575 polling booths have been set up in 14,523 regions.

Elections are being held in Banaskantha, Patan, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Aravalli, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Chhota Udepur districts from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Special deployment of police has been made to ensure law and order in the poll-bound regions. The Election Commission has deployed hundreds of companies of the Central Armed Police Forces, 12 companies of Rapid Action Force and 19 companies of the State Reserve Police Force for the assembly polls.