68% voter turnout recorded in first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections

People of Gujarat will decide the fate of BJP and Congress as they come out to vote for the first phase of assembly elections in the state on Saturday.

Voting is being held on 89 seats of Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions with 977 candidates including CM Vijay Rupani in the fray.
Around 2.12 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise in PM Modi's home state.

Security has been tightened in the state to ensure fair polling.

While Modi addressed about 15 rallies, Gandhi spent more than seven days in Saurashtra and south Gujarat, addressing a number of meetings.
Several surveys predicted BJP will retain the power while some claimed Congress will give neck to neck fight after Patidar leader Hardik Patel’s support.

Here are the highlights of Gujarat Assembly elections 2017:

# 68% voter turnout recorded in first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections: EC

# 47.28% voter turnout recorded till 4 pm in first phase of #GujaratElection2017

# 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. #GujaratElection2017

# Some EVMs replaced due to errors. EVMs were updated with VVPAT, which allows people to verify their vote for 7 seconds: Yogesh Thakkar, Bhavnagar Deputy Electoral Officer on reports of faulty EVMs in 1st phase of polling in #GujaratElection2017

# 35.52% voter turnout recorded till 2 pm in first phase of Gujarat Election 2017

# Till 2 pm 45 % Polling in Surat District.

#A team of Election Commission reaches polling booth in Thakkar Plot, Porbandar after complaints of EVM being connected to Bluetooth #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/ETmuu73Fwk

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

#Around 30.3 per cent voter turnout recorded till 12 pm in Phase-1 

# Katargam(Surat): A bride to be, Fenny Parekh arrives from her 'haldi' ceremony to cast her vote #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/oGaW9skOYV

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# 21.09 per cent voting recorded till 11:30pm

# Elderly people arrive to cast their vote in Bharuch's Ankleshwar #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/d1P6bjqJi2

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# 11 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the initial two hours 

# Wherever there are complaints of EVM malfunctioning, it should be dealt with immediately: Ahmed Patel, Congress #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/CPkE8hM6cq

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# Have replaced two machines and one VVPAT, you cannot really call it a technical error, these are electronic items there can be some issues. Now everything is okay & voting has started: Vipul Goti, Master Trainer, Election Commission in Surat's Varaccha #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/RVF86aW4Wh

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# Congress' Arjun Modhwadia casts his vote at a polling booth in Porbandar, he is contesting against BJP's sitting MLA Babu Bokhiria. #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/zltmNtIkRj

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel casts his vote in Bharuch's Ankleshwar, says 'Congress will win more than 110 seats' #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/V3CGobtwZ4

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# Faulty EVM in Sardar Patel Vidyalaya booth in Surat's Varaccha has been replaced

# A couple in Bharuch cast their votes before their wedding ceremony #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/TuXxKDpkK0

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# Cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara casts his vote in Rajkot's Ravi Vidayalaya booth. #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/NobynWfp6P

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# PM Modi urges voters to exercise their franchise

CM Vijay Rupani casts his vote in Rajkot. He is contesting against Congress’ Indranil Rajyaguru from Rajkot-West seat #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/d38IIAPs0v

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# We are going to win 150+ seats under the leadership of PM Modi ji, we face no obstacles: Jitu Vaghani,BJP Gujarat Chief and candidate from Bhavnagar West 

Visuals of locals after casting their vote in Surat's Majura. BJP MLA Harsh Sanghvi is contesting against Congress's Ashok Kothari. This seat was formed after the 2008 delimitation. #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/zWTV4fq7I6

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# 27,158 EVMs being used in 24,689 polling stations in the first phase

# Voting underway on Surat's Choryasi assembly seat. BJP's Jhankhnaben Patel is up against Congress's Yogeshbhai B. Patel

Voting for first phase of #GujaratElection2017 begins. Visuals from Bharuch's Ankleshwar pic.twitter.com/gOduleVrRO

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2017

# Voting begins for 89 seats in the first phase

# People should come out in large numbers to vote. We are very confident, no question of any challenge: Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani

# Maximum candidates contesting on a seat are 27 from Jamnagar Rural. Minimum are 3 from Jhagadia and Gandev.

# Voting will begin at 8 AM.

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