GANDHINAGAR: The second and final phase of the Gujarat Assembly Elections saw a voter turnout of 68.70 per cent amid many complaints from voters to the Election Commission about the functioning of EVMs.
The voting was also marred by the opposition's strong condemnation of PM Modi's alleged 'roadshow' after casting his vote. [READ FULL REPORT]
After a slew of campaign rallies, polling for the second and final phase of the assembly elections began today morning when 93 constituencies spread across 14 districts in north and central Gujarat went to polls.
851 candidates are in the fray and over 2.22 lakh people will take part in the election. The BJP has fielded 93 candidates for this phase, while Congress has fielded only 91.
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Voting will continue till 5 pm in more than 25,000 polling stations. Security has been increased in various parts of the state in the wake of the polls.
The results will be declared on December 18.
Here are the latest updates:
6:30 pm - 68.70 per cent total voting recorded in second and final phase of Gujarat polls. (ANI)
6:00 pm -
5:30 pm - 62.24 per cent voting recorded till 4 pm. (ANI)
5:10 pm - Congress and BJP workers clashed during voting in Tower Bazar area in Gujarat's Anand, earlier and vehicles were vandalized during the protest. Police, however, reached the spot and the situation is now under control.
5:00 pm - Voting for the second and final phase of the Gujarat Assembly Election ends.
4:50 pm -
4:30 pm - The BJP delegation leaves from the office of the Election Commission of India.
4:10 pm - Senior officials of the Election Commission are checking the possible Bluetooth connectivity of EVMs at every booth.
4:00 pm - Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer, BB Swain also mentioned that a complaint was received, which said that apparently when a person switched on Bluetooth on his mobile phone, it connected to the EVMs. (ANI)
3:45 pm - "Have received a complaint regarding MCC violation after casting of the vote. It is a complaint which is more anticipatory in nature which says a crowd was there and this could be a roadshow. This complaint has been given to DEO Ahmedabad," said Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer on the complaint by Congress against PM Modi. (ANI)
3:35 pm -
3:30 pm - 47.40% voter turnout recorded till 2 pm.
3:25 pm - "We are fighting against the BJP. Thus, it is natural that we will be supporting the Congress," said Hardik Patel.
3:10 pm - "It is a matter of happiness for me that I was the first voter to cast vote at my polling booth. We are committed to change the kind of politics happening in the state. The Congress is set to form the next government that will work for the poor, farmers, women and all sections of the society," Alpesh Thakor told reporters after coming out of the polling booth. (PTI)
3:00 pm - Patidar quota agitation spearhead Hardik Patel and Congress leader Alpesh Thakor, the face of OBC community in Gujarat, cast their ballots at different polling stations in the Viramgam assembly constituency of Ahmedabad district.
2:45 pm -
2:30 pm - The Congress accused EC of becoming a "puppet" in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who it said was breaking rules in a last bid to save the BJP's "sinking ship" in Gujarat. [READ FULL REPORT]
2:10 pm - The Congress strongly objected to Modi's "roadshow" after he voted in Ahmedabad which it said was a flagrant violation of the EC's model code of conduct.
1: 55 pm - Compared to phase 1, less than 50% cases of EVM replacements in phase 2. Our target remains to replace the faulty EVMs as soon as possible: BB Swain, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer
1: 50 pm -
1: 40 pm - READ HERE: Congress seeks EC's action against PM Modi, Amit Shah for violation of model of conduct
1: 30 pm -
A glitch in the EVM in Gujarat’s Chhota Udaipur today prevented voters from casting their votes for about fifty minutes. The device stopped working due to a wire problem, which was later fixed.
“The EVM in Sankheda's Sodhaliya village in Chhota Udaipur was dysfunctional for 50 minutes, so voting was halted for that duration,” said Gaurang Rana, Polling Officer. “We fixed the machine and now the voting is underway,” he added. (ANI)
1 pm - Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer B B Swain told reporters that polling was on in more than 25,000 booths across 14 districts. "We are live web-casting from 1,700 booths. Security is properly deployed, and staff reached on time," he said. "We have given proper instructions to ensure that EVMs which encounter problems are changed in time so as to avoid any delay that was encountered during the first phase of polling," Swain said. (PTI)
12: 45 pm - There were reports of malfunctioning of electronic voting places (EVMs) and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) at some places in Aravalli and Panchmahal districts. Voting in the 93 seats of North and Central Gujarat regions was otherwise proceeding peacefully, Election Commission officials said. (PTI)
12: 30 pm -
12:20 pm - PM Modi reportedly held a roadshow after casting his vote.
12: 15 pm - 39 per cent voting recorded till 12 pm.
12: 10 pm - PM Modi flew from Mumbai where he commissioned INS Kalvari.
11: 45 am -
11: 35 am -
11: 20 am - Voter turnout till 9 am is at 7 per cent, according to TV reports.
11 am -
10: 45 am -
10: 30 am - Arun Jaitley came to the polling booth at the Naranpura sub-zonal office to cast vote along with his wife Sonal Shah and son Jay Shah. He said the development model of Gujarat is "praised across the country". "I believe this tempo should be maintained, and the people should vote in large numbers to give a befitting reply to those opposing the Gujarat model," he added. (PTI)
10: 15 am -
10 am -
9:20 am -
9:10 am - PM Modi requested people to vote in “recording numbers” and enrich the “festival of democracy.”
9 am -
8:45 am - Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are set to visit their constituencies to cast their votes. PM Modi is in Mumbai to dedicate India's first indigenous Scorpene-class submarine INS Kalvari. [READ FULL REPORT HERE]
8:00 am - Hardik Patel's parents pray as voting for second phase of #GujaratElection2017 begins pic.twitter.com/YZAaAtMWL6
Repolling will be held tomorrow in two booths of Jamjodhpur constituency, two booths in Una, one in Nijjar, and one in Umargam.
7: 30 am - Voting for second phase of #GujaratElection2017 to begin shortly. Visuals from Vadodara's Kasba.Polling booth no.12 pic.twitter.com/2D23kHCOYO
The voter turnout in the first phase of the polls was 68 per cent.
In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP won 115 seats, while the Congress bagged 61.