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.
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)