The seat for the constituency is reserved for Scheduled Castes and has traditionally been a BJP bastion since its formation
Even as the heat intensified on Tuesday, with the mercury crossing 43 degree Celsius, it didn't deter citizens in Ahmedabad West from casting their votes. The seat for the constituency is reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and has traditionally been a BJP bastion since its formation.
The Ahmedabad West constituency was formed in 2009 and on April 23, 2019, had elections for the seat for the third time. Since the formation of the constituency, BJP's candidate Dr Kirit Solanki has retained the seat. For the 17th Lok Sabha elections, BJP has repeated the candidate while the Indian National Congress fielded three-term Rajya Sabha member Raju Parmar.
This seat has seven state assembly constituencies of which two are reserved for SCs and one constituency geographically falls on the western side of Sabarmati River while the remaining are from the eastern side of the river.
Early in the morning, there were queues at some of the booths in Khadia, Jamalpur, Behrampura and Paldi wards; voting was completed smoothly. At some of the booths, there were complaints of slow functioning of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machine) while at some booths in Danilimda, there were issues of low light. One of the machines at a Chandola booth faced a technical glitch and was replaced in some time.
Many voters this time said that unlike other elections, they have not seen their candidates campaigning or in public meetings. "I am a regular voter and I always exercise my right. This time though, none of the candidates has done rallies or processions, which used to be a regular affair during previous elections," said Sadiq Hussain, a voter.
Another voter at Ellisbridge, Pina Shah, said that she chose the afternoon to vote to avoid long queues. "This is the best time to come to the voting booth. I finish my work and then I cast my vote in my own time. This time it is burning hot, but still, I chose this time."
A disgruntled voter from Kankaria, Dilip Shah, was unhappy as he couldn't find his name on the list even after visiting two booths. "I have voted only once. After that, I couldn't vote ever as I have never found my name on the list," said Shah.
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Early in the morning, there were queues at some of the booths in Khadia, Jamalpur, Behrampura and Paldi wards; voting was completed smoothly. At some of the booths, there were complaints of slow functioning of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machine) while at some booths in Danilimda, there were issues of low light. One of the machines at a Chandola booth faced a technical glitch and was replaced in some time.
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