- ‘Willingly under pressure’: Congress slams poll body for Modi ‘roadshow’ on election day
- Congress candidates from Kalol in Panchmahal district Prabhatsinh Chauhan alleges he was attacked by unidentified persons
NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, DEC 5
A voter turnout of 58.80 percent was recorded till 5 pm on Monday across 93 seats in the second phase of the assembly elections in Gujarat, where polling was peaceful barring a few untoward incidents, the Elections Commission (EC) said.
Thank You Gujarat
For celebrating the festival of democracy during first & second phase of Assembly Polls.#GujaratElections2022 #AssemblyPolls2022 pic.twitter.com/JhmxLgjG0t
— Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat (@CEOGujarat) December 5, 2022
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Sukhram Rathva of the Congress were prominent among those who cast their votes in the second and final phase of elections to the 182-member assembly.
દિયોદર વિધાનસભા મતવિસ્તારમાં નાની ઘરનાળ ગામે કોરોના પોઝિટિવ પેશન્ટ બાબુભાઇ દેસાઇએ PPE કીટ પહેરી કોવિડ પ્રોટોકોલ સાથે મતદાન કર્યુ.@ECISVEEP#GujaratElections2022 #AVSAR #ProudToBeAVoter #AssemblyElections2022 pic.twitter.com/Qp4zP541Jm
— Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat (@CEOGujarat) December 5, 2022
The state administration received complaints of malfunctioning of EVMs (electronic voting machines) and VVPATs (voter verifiable paper audit trails) from many places due to which voting at those booths was impacted. The provisional voter turnout in the second phase, covering 93 seats across 14 districts of north and central regions of Gujarat, till 5 pm was 58.80 percent, the EC said, adding the figure is expected to increase as many people were still standing in queues at many booths.
Eco-friendly booth @Amraiwadi Assembly Constituency@CEOGujarat @DEOAhmedabad @rkpatel_IAS pic.twitter.com/F5yDdOblcy
— Mrunaldevi Gohil (@mrunalgohil1) December 4, 2022
The provisional figure released by the EC for the second phase at 5 pm is expected to rise further as collecting data from some polling stations takes time and the number does not include postal ballots. The final voter turnout in the second phase of the 2017 assembly election on these 93 seats stood at 69.99 per cent.
The turnout in the first phase of the 2022 elections across 89 assembly seats, where voting took place on December 1, was 63.31 percent. Gujarat had registered 68.41 percent voting in the assembly polls five years ago.
કમળ ખીલશે, ગુજરાત જીતશે#પ્રચંડ_જીત_તરફ_ભાજપ pic.twitter.com/lm89CXG0Md
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) December 5, 2022
On Monday, voting took place across 14 districts of north and central regions of Gujarat. District-wise, Sabarkantha recorded the highest voting at 65.84 percent. Ahmedabad district recorded the lowest turnout at 53.57 percent till 5 pm. In Vadodara, it was 58 percent, the EC said. The electoral fate of CM Bhupendra Patel and 832 other candidates, including 285 independents, will be decided in the second phase.
PM Modi voted at a polling station at Nishan High School in Ahmedabad city’s Ranip area in the morning. His centenarian mother Hiraba Modi cast her ballot at a polling station in Gandhinagar district.
Union minister Shah exercised his franchise at a municipal centre in Naranpura locality of Ahmedabad city.
AAP leader Gadhvi voted at a booth in Ghuma locality. He is the AAP candidate from the Khambhalia seat in Devbhumi Dwarka district where polling was held in the first phase on December 1. Apart from CM Bhupendra Patel, BJP leaders Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor, and Congress leader Jignesh Mevani were among those in the fray in the second phase of polls.
Voting began at 8 am across 14,975 polling stations. The poll body said 41 ballot units, 40 control units and 109 voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) were replaced due to malfunctioning during the initial hours of voting.
Congress candidates from Kalol in Panchmahal district Prabhatsinh Chauhan alleged he was attacked by unidentified persons who, he alleged, also damaged his vehicle. State Congress president Jagdish Thakor accused the Election Commission of “sitting in the lap of BJP.” He said despite the Congress complaining of slow voting in assembly seats won by it 2017, the poll authorities did not resolve the matter.
“We have complained of slow voting on Congress seats (won in 2017). We have lodged a complaint but there is no resolution…It seems as if the Election Commission is sitting in the lap of the BJP,” he said after casting his vote at Naroda locality in Ahmedabad city.
‘Willingly under pressure’: Congress slams poll body for Modi ‘roadshow’ on election day
સત્તા ટકાવી રાખવા ભાજપના નેતાઓ ગુજરાતમાં ખુલ્લેઆમ દારૂ વહેંચીને વોટ ખરીદી રહી છે શું ચૂંટણી પંચ આ મામલે કોઇ કાર્યવાહી કરશે કે કેમ?
શ્રી @Pawankhera જી #કોંગ્રેસ_આવે_છે#VoteForCongress pic.twitter.com/PW0vgWTDYl— Gujarat Congress (@INCGujarat) December 5, 2022
The Congress on Monday, slammed the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for his political ‘roadshow’ during second phase voting for Gujarat elections.
Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera said that Modi flouted the code of conduct while on his way to vote. “During the polling day, PM Modi did a roadshow of two and half hours while he went to cast his vote. Will appeal to EC against it, seems like Election Commission is willingly under pressure,” Khera said. The Congress questioned the Election Commission’s “total silence and total inaction”, NDTV reported.
Khera also mentioned that the party’s tribal leader and MLA in Gujarat, Kanti Kharadi, had requested the EC for additional security due to a threat to his life, but the poll body did not respond. “He was attacked by 24 BJP goons, BJP also distributed liquor in Gujarat even though liquor is banned there, EC took no action on that either,” the Congress leader said.
Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also criticised Modi for the ‘road show’ on polling day. Slamming the EC, Mamata alleged PM’s rally would ‘influenceoutcome’.
Modi exercised his democratic right at a polling station at Nishan High School in Ahmedabad on Monday. He walked to the polling station, greeting supporters who were cheering for him. His centenarian mother Hiraba also cast her vote at a polling station in Gandhinagar district. Union Home Minister Amit Shah cast his vote at a municipal centre in Naranpura locality of Ahmedabad city.
