Gujarat elections: Voting for the second phase of Assembly polls in 93 seats begins

Gujarat elections: The second and final phase of voting for the Gujarat Assembly elections began on Monday at 8 a.m. in 93 constituencies spread over 14 districts in the state's centre and northern regions.

In these Assembly segments spanning over Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, and other regions, 833 candidates from 61 political parties are fighting the polls, including Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will vote at a polling station built up in a school in Ahmedabad's Ranip district, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah will vote at a municipal centre in the Naranpura neighbourhood.

On the day of the election, PM Modi paid a visit to his mother Hiraba's home in Gandhinagar, the state capital.

In Gujarat, where the new poll entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has introduced a third dimension to the traditional bipolar struggle between the saffron party and the Congress, the BJP is seeking a seventh consecutive term.

The first phase of voting for 89 seats in Saurashtra, Kutch, and south Gujarat was place on December 1, with a voter turnout of 63.31 percent.

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On December 8, the votes for the total of 182 Assembly members will be counted.

The 833 candidates running in the second round of voting include 285 independents.

A total of 2.51 crore voters, including 1.29 crore men and 1.22 crore women, are eligible to vote in the second round of elections. According to the Election Commission, there are 5.96 lakh voters between the ages of 18 and 19.

The election commission has set up 14,975 polling booths and has deployed 1.13 lakh staffers.

The BJP and Arvind Kejriwal's AAP are both running in all 93 seats. The Congress and its alliance partner, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), are fighting for 90 seats in two sectors.

The Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) has fielded 12 candidates, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded 44.

Ghatlodia (in Ahmedabad district) of CM Bhupendra Patel, Viramgam seat (also in Ahmedabad) from which Patidar leader Hardik Patel is fighting on the BJP's ticket, and Gandhinagar South from which Alpesh Thakor is fighting as the saffron party candidate are among the important constituencies in the second phase of polls.

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani is the Congress candidate for the Vadgam seat in the Banaskantha district, and Gujarat Assembly Leader Sukhram Rathva is the nominee for Jetpur in the Chhota Udepur district.

Madhu Shrivastav, a BJP renegade, is running as an independent candidate from Vaghodia in the Vadodara district.

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PM Modi campaigned for BJP candidates

On December 1 and 2, PM Modi conducted a flurry of campaigning for BJP candidates, including two back-to-back road shows in Ahmedabad.

During the final phase of the campaign, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed rallies in the cities of Dholka, Mahudha, and Khambhat, while Union Minister Smriti Irani performed roadshows in the north Gujarat towns of Modasa and Siddhpur.

AAP leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also held road shows in preparation for the second round of voting.

In the 2017 state Assembly elections, the BJP won 51 of the 93 seats up for grabs, the Congress 39, and three seats went to independent candidates.

The BJP received 37 seats in central Gujarat, outnumbering the Congress, who received 22. However, in north Gujarat, the Congress won 17 seats while the Saffron Party won 14.

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