VIEW PHOTOS HERE | 101-year-old woman, Jadejas among enthusiastic voters in Gujarat elections first phase
101-year-old Amina Gharia, a resident of Patel Paliya of Boudhan village of Mandvi taluka, cast her vote for Mandvi assembly seat at Boudhan village. She said that since the time of Independence, she has cast her vote many times. "I have seen the work of many governments very closely in my life. I don't know how many days are left in my life, but I will keep voting as long as I am alive," she added.
Heta, who came to vote with her family at the polling station in Bardoli Municipality area of South Gujarat said that she feels happy and proud to be a part of the election process. til now I have read about elections in books only but today I feel and see the thrill of election voting, she promised to vote regularly as a vigilant voter in every subsequent election.
While the famous cricketer campaigned for his wife Rivaba Jadeja, his elder sister canvassed for Bipendrasinh Jadeja, highlighting the "sibling rivalry" that has added another layer of interest in the poll after the BJP dropped its sitting MLA Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, locally better known as Hakubha.
The EC has shared that 4.92% of the voters turned up in the first hour of polling in Gujarat. Among the early birds, a centenarian woman and ex-CM Vinay Rupani.
The Vyara Assembly seat, which has gone to the polls on Thursday, is witnessing a unique battle. Both the Congress and BJP have fielded Christian candidates - tribal Christians. This is a first.
The Morbi Bridge collapse on October 30 has not helped BJP's Saurashtra Mission. But the party is keen on waving wave the saffron flag from across the 48 seats of Saurashtra that is going to the polls at any cost.
Our correspondent Dilip Singh Kshatriya reports that Saurashtra has always been considered pivotal in Gujarat politics.
All the major political parties have campaigned vigorously here for the past two months.
Due to the pro-BJP tilt of Patidar voters in Saurashtra, the BJP's seats have steadily increased over the last two and a half decades. Still, after the Patidar reservation movement, the BJP suffered a setback in the 2017 assembly elections, finishing behind the Congress in the region. That is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given importance to Saurashtra in his Gujarat campaign this time around.
The Congress too has undertaken a tacit campaign across Saurashtra assembly segments during the last three months. The Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal too has held the most rallys in Saurashtra.
The results from Saurashtra between 2002 and 2012 showed BJP gaining strength, with Patidars showing a pro-BJP stance. But in 2017, BJP suffered a massive loss in Saurashtra due to the Patidar reservation movement as well as the farmers' discontent in rural Saurashtra, where the Congress gained ground. In three districts of Saurashtra, namely Amreli, Morbi, and Girsomanath, BJP lost all the seats, while in Junagadh, and Porbandar districts, BJP got one seat each.
According to the 2017 results, out of a total of 48 seats in Saurashtra, 28 seats were won by Congress while BJP has to be content with 19 seats.
With the AAP entering the fray and expected to cut into Congress votes this time around, the big question is about how big a reversal of fortunes the BJP can engineer.