- Telecast of the PM’s rallies organised in other parts of the state (not covered by the first phase polling) as well as airing of interviews of voters do not violate any rule: Additional CEO of Gujarat Kuldeep Arya
- Narmada district recorded the highest voter turnout at 73.02 percent followed by Tapi district at 72.32 percent
NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, DEC 1
A moderate voter turnout of 60.23 percent was recorded in the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections covering 89 seats across 19 districts of Saurashtra-Kutch and southern regions of the state on Thursday with the polling ending on by and large peaceful note, officials said.
ગુજરાત વિધાનસભાની ચૂંટણી દરમિયાન વિવિધ મતદાન મથકો પર મતદારોને મદદ કરતા #ITBP ના જવાનો…#GujaratAssemblyPolls #GujaratElections #Gujarat pic.twitter.com/B7P56oPKKH
— DD News Gujarati (@DDNewsGujarati) December 1, 2022
The electoral fate of 788 candidates who were in the fray in the first phase was locked in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). While the final voting figure was awaited, the average turnout stood provisionally at 60.23 percent, the Election Commission (EC) said.
નથી જોઈતો કોઈ ટેકો અમને…
મત આપવાતો અંદરની દેશ ભક્તિ જ કાફી છે..@ECISVEEP @SpokespersonECI #GujaratElections2022 #SeniorCitizen #ProudToBeAVoter #GujaratAssemblyPolls #NoVoterTobeleftBehind #EveryVoteCounts #AVSAR pic.twitter.com/bpf0DImvbM— Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat (@CEOGujarat) December 1, 2022
The voter turnout was less than 66.75 per cent recorded in the first phase of the 2017 Assembly polls. Barring a few untoward incidents and reports of technical glitch in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at some places, the voting process, which commenced at 8 am, was largely peaceful, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi said.
Voters casting their vote at Polling Station made from Shipping container in Aliabet, an isolated place in 151- Vagra AC in Bharuch.
Initiative by #ECI,to facilitate Voters who earlier had to travel far to vote as there was no govt/semi govt building available. #GujaratElections pic.twitter.com/JfeR874v1Z— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) December 1, 2022
An average 60.23 percent voter turnout was recorded and the final figure was still being collated, the EC said. As per the provisional figure, Narmada district recorded the highest voter turnout at 73.02 percent followed by Tapi district at 72.32 percent. As many as eight districts recorded more than 60 percent voting. Surat registered 60.17 percent turnout and Rajkot 57.69 percent, according to EC data.
લોકશાહીનું સંસ્કાર સિંચન…
એક જ દિવસના નવજાત શિશુ સાથે આ માતાએ મતદાન કર્યું અને લોકોને પણ મતદાન કરવા માટે અપીલ કરી…@ECISVEEP#GujaratElections2022 #Voter #AssemblyElections2022 #PowerOfOneVote #gujaratassemblypolls #NoVoterTobeleftBehind #EveryVoteCounts #AVSAR pic.twitter.com/H0hcCbQG7O— Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat (@CEOGujarat) December 1, 2022
The office of the Chief Election Officer (CEO) said voters of three villages – Dhrafa in Jamnagar district, Samot in Narmada district and Kesar in Bharuch district – completely boycotted the election for different reasons.
The Election Commission statement said, it received 33 alerts, 104 complaints received by the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer and 221 complaints received by c-VIGIL.
ભાજપ કોમવાદ અને જાતિવાદને આગળ કરશે પણ આપણે મોંઘવારી,બેરોજગારી અને ભરસ્તાચાર પર અડગ રહીને પરીવર્તન માટે મતદાન કરી ભાજપને જડબાતોડ જવાબ આપીએ.#કોંગ્રેસ_આવે_છે#VoteForCongress pic.twitter.com/m9QZutM5wX
— Gujarat Congress (@INCGujarat) December 1, 2022
The voter turnout, however, was substantially lower than 68.33 per cent recorded in the previous elections of 2017.
The first phase of polling was held on 89 seats of 19 districts in Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions from 8 am on Thursday.
આજે મારા વતન મોઢવાડા ગામે મતદાન કરી નાગરિક તરીકેની ફરજ નિભાવી
મારો મત મોંધવારી અને બેરોજગારી હટાવી નવી સરકારમાં રોજગારીની તકો ખોલશે!
મારો મત પરિવર્તન લાવી શાંતિ, સલામતી અને સમૃદ્ધિના દ્વાર ખોલશે!
આપ સહુંને પણ વિનંતી છે કે અવશ્ય મતદાન કરો અને પોરબંદર સહિત ગુજરાતમાં પરિવર્તન લઈ આવો pic.twitter.com/o0uOCV3QWr— Arjun Modhwadia (@arjunmodhwadia) December 1, 2022
In a statement, after the conclusion of first phase of polling, the office of Chief Electoral Officer stated that total 89 ballot units, 82 control units and 238 VVPATs were replaced in 19 districts during the polling.
The opposition Congress on Thursday submitted six different complaints, one of them related to “booth capturing” in Surendranagar district, to election authorities after the first phase of voting on 89 Assembly seats ended in Gujarat.
સુરત ખાતે ગૃહ રાજ્યમંત્રી શ્રી @sanghaviharsh એ મતદાન કર્યું અને ગુજરાતની આ વિકાસયાત્રાને વેગવાન બનાવવા લોકશાહીના આ પર્વમાં જોડાવા નાગરિકોને આહ્વાન કર્યું.#गुजरात_बोले_भाजपा_फिरसे pic.twitter.com/CcLpuu9Zoz
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) December 1, 2022
In one of the complaints, the Congress alleged a polling booth situated in Samla village falling under the Limbdi Assembly seat of Surendranagar district was captured by some anti-social elements.
AAP Gujarat state president @Gopal_Italia casts his vote.
#Vote4Jhadu pic.twitter.com/6pJ4fWfYj7
— Dr Safin
(@HasanSafin) December 1, 2022
However, Surendranagar collector KC Sampat, who is also the district election officer, said a probe revealed no such incident took place and the booth in question was being monitored at the district level through a live webcast.
Other complaints included bogus voting by anti-social elements on some booths in Botad district, deliberately slowing down polling process by officials in Jamnagar and authorities allowing party symbols inside a booth in the Palsana area of Surat city.
A complaint was also submitted to the office of the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) about television channels running interviews of voters coming out of booths, which could influence people who will exercise their franchise in seats going to polls on December 5 in the second phase, said Gujarat Congress spokesperson Hiren Banker.
“The Congress has also complained that live telecast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rallies (organised by BJP as part of campaigning for 2nd phase) in different parts of Gujarat also violated the Model Code of Conduct because voting was going when the rallies were being aired,” said Banker.
Additional CEO of Gujarat Kuldeep Arya, however, clarified that telecast of the PM’s rallies organised in other parts of the state (not covered by the first phase polling) as well as airing of interviews of voters do not violate any rule.
“As per rule, one can hold rallies where silence period is not in force. We can not stop TV broadcast at selected places. Election Commission (EC) guidelines are very clear about it. Interviews by voters after polling is also allowed. They are not considered opinion polls,” said Arya.
The second phase of voting on December 5 will cover the remaining 93 seats in the 182-member Assembly and counting of ballots will place on December 8.
