Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday declared that an estimated 68 per cent polling was recorded in the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections 2017 till 5pm with the figure likely to cross 70 per cent.

Addressing a press conference Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha said, “In many places as reported till late the poll was going on. Those who were in queue at 5 p.m. will be given an opportunity to vote”. He added that the final polling figures will come late in the evening.

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The first phase of poll for 89 seats in 19 districts recorded 68 per cent polling, and it may touch the figure of 71 per cent, similar to the last Assembly elections when the percentage was recorded at 70.7 per cent.

Earlier, when asked about the chances of winning the elections in Gujarat, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “This will be a landslide victory for BJP and the win will be resounding. Congress’s campaign tactics have failed.”

Here is the district wise break-up percentage of votes turnout:

Kachch: 63 per cent

Surendranagar: 65 per cent

Morbi: 75 per cent

Rajkot: 70 per cent

Jamnagar: 65 per cent

Bharuch: 71 per cent

Narmada: 73 per cent

Khed: 73 per cent

Porbandar: 60 per cent

Devebhoomi Dwarka: 63 per cent

Gir Somnath: 70 per cent

Amreli: 67 per cent

Bhavnagar: 62 per cent

Surat: 70 per cent

Navsari: 75 per cent

Valsad: 70 per cent

Botad: 60 per cent

Tapi: 73 per cent

Junagadh: 65 per cent

Dang: 70 per cent

Botad: 60 per cent

Rigging allegations

Senior Congress leader from Porbandar, Arjun Modhwadia has complained of one EVM machine connected with a WiFi and alleged that EVMs were being rigged. He claimed that the EVMs are getting connected via bluetooth devices named ‘CEO Gujarat’.

Election Commission of India (ECI), while rejecting the claims made by the Congress, said “There is no such connection of any Bluetooth or EVM. EVMs don’t have receptors or wiring to facilitate that. So, reports of EVMs connected to Bluetooth are false.”

Earlier in the day, the poll panel had also received several complaints over Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) malfunctioning in Kosamba region of Valsad district. An EVM was also tampered with in Rajkot East constituency, a complaint to the EC said.

Technical glitches were reported in at least 33 EVMs at Rajkot during the polling for the first phase on Saturday. Similar reports were coming from isolated places in Varachha and Surat.

A Congress candidate from Pardi also filed a complaint with the EC for a Voter Verification Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) not showing the paper slip while voting.

Voting was boycotted by the villagers of Kalyanpur in Jam Jodhpur constituency opposing the unavailability of water in the region.

First phase: 977 candidates for 89 seats

A total of 977 candidates are in the fray from Kutch, Morbi, Jamnagar, Surendranagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Rajkot, Botad, Porbandar, Junagadh, Amreli, Gir Somnath, Bhavnagar, Bharuch, Narmada, Surat, Tapi, Navsari, Dang and Valsad districts.

Of the 89 seats, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party holds 67 and the Congress 16. One seat each is held by the NCP and JD-U while independents hold the remaining two.

According to media reports, there’s a sizebale chunk of young voters that have made a beeline for the polling booths in the first phase of polling across 89 constituencies in 19 districts of Kutch, Saurashtra and southern regions.

While the Congress termed the brisk polling a sign of people’s anger towards the incumbent BJP government, which has been in power for the last 22 years, the BJP saw the large turnout as mobilisation of their core supporters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi too urged voters especially youngsters to turnout in large numbers.

Polling began at 8 am and culminated at 5 pm. There are a total of 24,689 polling booths.

Of the 2,12,31,652 voters, 1,11,05,933 are males and 1,01,25,472 females while 247 are from the third gender.

The second phase polling is on 14 December and counting, along with that of Himachal Pradesh, is scheduled on 18 December.

(With inputs from agencies)