Sixty-eight per cent polling was recorded in the first phase of Gujarat polls, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Unmesh Sinha said today.
Sixty-eight per cent polling was recorded in the first phase of Gujarat polls, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Unmesh Sinha said today.
Eighty-nine seats out of the total of 182 Assembly constituencies went to polls in the first phase with prominent candidates like Chief Minister Vijay Rupani (Rajkot West), Congress' Shaktisinh Gohil (Mandvi) and Paresh Dhanani (Amreli) in the fray.
The election is being viewed as a prestige battle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a litmus test for the leadership of soon-to-be Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
The second phase of polling in 93 seats will be held on December 14 while the counting of votes is scheduled on December 18.
Here are the Live Updates:
19:12 pm: 68% voting between 8 AM to 5 PM, says EC
18:45 pm: 68% voter turnout recorded till 5 pm in the first phase of Gujarat Election 2017, by the time we get final figures voting percentage may go a little higher and touch last year's figure: Election Commission of India
18:30 pm: Voting concludes in first phase polling of Gujarat Elections 2017, final figure on voter turnout awaited.
18:09 pm: Most of the complaints of dysfunctional units were reported during mock polls held during 7:00am to 8:00am. This gave the cascade effect to polling hours and poll procedure was delayed. During polls, very few complaints of dysfunctional units were reported: EC official
18:05 pm: No truth behind reports that "votes going to other candidate": Bharuch District Collector
17: 50 pm: Dysfunction of units were reported between 2% to 3%, which is normal, says EC official
17:47 pm: Dysfunction of units during polling reported in first phase - 164 BUs (ballot units or EVMs) 225 CUs (control units) and 714 VVPATs out of total 26865 BUs,
24689 CUs and VVPATs, EC official says
17:34 pm: 60.16% voter turnout recorded till 4 pm in first phase polling of Gujarat Elections 2017.
17:33 pm: Four persons were injured in a group clash between two factions of same community at Chorvira village in Sayla Taluka of Surendranagar district. The village falls in Limbdi constituency: CEO Swain
Women wait in a queue to cast their votes at a polling booth in Surat on Saturday. (PTI)
17:31 pm: Almost procedure remained fair and free, one incident of group clash in Surendranagar reported: BB Swain, chief electoral officer, Gujarat
16:37 pm: Governor of Karnataka Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala cast his vote in Rajkot
16:35 pm: The person who had the mobile, Manoj Singrakhiya belonged to BSP and deputed as polling agent of the party on the booth in Porbandar
16:31 pm: During the first phase of voting 1.90% of VVPATs replaced out of 24,689 units deployed. 0.37% out of the 26,865 Ballot Units and 0.38% out of the 24,689 Control Unites replaced too, reports ANI
16: 15 pm: The complainant and local media persons also were kept present during the fact checking process and the mobile device having ECO105 model name was found ultimately. We have sent this concluding report to the election commission of India also: BB Swain, chief electoral officer, Gujarat
16:13 pm: Because the Bluetooth mobile device was carrying the model name ECO105, which belonged to a polling agent of one party, it was reflected in the mobile instrument of a complainant: BB Swain, chief electoral officer, Gujarat
16:08 pm: EC rejects claims of EVM hacking through bluetooth. Complaint of Bluetooth operated EVM disposed of as a mobile phone of a polling agent was found having name 'ECO105'. Read full story here
15:29 pm: 45.61% voter turnout recorded till 2 pm in first phase polling.
15:23 pm: In Gondal, Bhagyashree Saparia made sure not to miss out the election day at any cost. The new mother cast her vote soon after caesarean delivery
14:46 pm: Election Commission officials reach a polling booth in Porbandar's Thakkar Plot after complaints of EVMs being connected to Bluetooth
14:33 pm: Congress is preparing ground before December 18 to blame their defeat on EVM, says Union Minister Jitendra Singh
14:02 pm: Polling is going on peacefully, there is no issue, says Bhavnagar District Collector Harshad Patel
13:52 pm: Bride-to-be Fenny Parekh couldn't wait to cast her vote. She came straight from her 'haldi' ceremony to the polling booth in Surat's Katargam
13:44 pm: Nonagenarian Vidya Pandya, who came to cast her vote in a wheelchair, complained that was no facility of ramp at polling booth in Gondal
13:03 pm: 'This will be a landslide victory for BJP,' says Arun Jaitley:
12:50 pm: Meet Ajiben, the oldest voter in India. She is 126 and claims she has always voted for every single election. She came along with her sons at the polling booth in Rajkot's Upleta. The spirited voter can still walk without any support: Read full story here
12:20 pm: BJP candidate Kanu Desai, who is contesting elections from Pardi constituency, is in news fro all wrong reason. His nephew was caught on camera allegedly giving money to voters. The incident came to light after the video went viral. There are allegations he was giving Rs100 to every voter
12:13 pm: Complaints of EVM tampering through Bluetooth in Porbandar
12:03 pm: This young mother won hearts at a polling booth in Gujarat. She came to cast her vote along with her her three-month-old twins
11:55 am: As many as 20 villages in Mangrol have complained about EVM error.
11:53 am: Here's the district-wise turnout till 10 am
11:40 am: As many as 397 crorepati candidates are in the fray for the Gujarat assembly elections, an analysis of their election affidavits done by two NGOs has found. Read full story here
11:0 6 am: Wherever there are complaints of EVM malfunctioning, it should be dealt with immediately: Congress leader Ahmed Patel
11:04 am: Not technical issue, says Master Trainer Vipul Goti after replacing two EVMs and one VVPAT in Surat's Varaccha
10:58 am: Dressed in her bridal finery, Mamta Gondalia reached polling booth in Rajkot's Dharala village to cast her vote
10:47 am: People of Jamnagar's Kalyanpur village boycott voting over water supply shortage
10:37 am: 154 EVMs not working in Botad district.
10:23 am: According to reports, 11% voter turnout has been recorded till 9am.
10:21 am: From bat to ballot: Cricket star Cheteshwar Pujara casts his vote in Rajkot
10:15 am: As half of Gujarat votes, we bring you all the colours from various polling booths across the state: Check out these pics
10:04 am: Voting first, wedding later: A bride and her groom seen outside a polling booth in Bharuch:
9:58 am: Voting interrupted in Rajkot, Surat and Rajpipla as EVMs malfunction. Read full story here
9:48 am: Bhavna Goani, an NRI, came all the way to India to cast her vote. The 51-year-old reached Gujarat on December 7 just to exercise her franchise. Goani proudly shows off her inked finger after casting her vote in Rajkot West.
9:40 am: Congress leaders Tushar Chaudhary, Arjun Modhwadia, Paresh Dhanani cast their votes
9:32 am: In Rajkot West, 88-year-old Manhar Mehta reached the polling booth early to cast his vote. But his son has still not decided whether he will vote or not.
9:20 am: Voting has not started in Amreli's Vadli village due to some error in EVMs. Voters wait outside the polling booth.
9:17 am: In Surat, 24 EVMs stopped working. The process of changing the machines is going on.
9:08 am: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani casts his vote in Rajkot. Click to find out what he has to say about the crucial polls:
9:02 am: Amid concerns over EVM rigging, the Congress has asked the Election Commission to instal mobile jammers outside rooms guarding the voting machines. Read full story here:
9:01 am: In Rajkot's Jetpur, around 10 EVMs had some technical issue. Voting has been stopped for a while. Technical staff is sorting out the problem to resume the voting.
8:55 am: In Surat's Majura, Harsh Sanghvi of BJP is contesting against Ashok Kothari of Congress. Seen here: the voters show their inked fingers after casting their ballot
8:42 am: Poll fact - There are more than 25, 000 EVMs being used across 24,689 polling stations in Phase 1
8:29 am: Gujarat BJP president Jitubhai Vaghani seen in Bhavnagar:
8:18 am: Brisk voting seen at a polling station in Surat:
8:12 am: Voters queue up for the polling in Bharuch:
8:04 am: As the polling begins, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani says, 'we are very confident, no question of any challenge.'
7:45 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to urge the people of Gujarat to vote in large numbers. Read full story here
7:38 am: Poll fact - Jamnagar Rural is witnessing a tough competition with 27 candidates contesting for this Assembly seat.
7:24 am: A mock poll by casting 50 votes is being conducted at every polling booth by the Presiding Officer right now.
7:22 am: In a first, 102 polling stations will be supervised completely by women.
7:21 am: Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, state BJP chief Jitu Vaghani, Assembly speaker Ramanlal Vora, Congress leaders Shaktisinh Gohil, Arjun Modhwadia and Paresh Dhanani are among the big names in the fray in the Phase 1.
7:19 am: CCTV cameras have also been installed for effective monitoring and surveillance.
7:17 am: Over 1,74,000 police personnel have been deployed with security apparatus on highest alert to ensure smooth conduct of the voting process today. Here are the very first visuals from the polling booth located in Bharuch:
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