gujarat election 2022Nearly 60 per cent polling was recorded till 5 pm today (December 1) in the first phase of Gujarat assembly elections. Voting began at 8:00 am to decide the fate of 788 candidates in 89 constituencies spread across 19 districts.
Barring a few incidents, polling was largely peaceful in all the 89 seats in South Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch regions where polling was held in the first phase.
The Election Commission said the turnout figure was provisional as data was not received from some polling stations and also did not include postal ballots. Voting was halted at some places due to malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) as well as Control Units and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs), but the faulty units were replaced and the process resumed.
voting percentage,
According to Election Commission data, Tapi district recorded the highest voter turnout of 72.32 per cent, followed by Narmada district at 68.09 per cent and Dangs at 64.84 per cent till 5:00 pm. In Gir Somnath, 50.89 per cent polling was recorded till 3 pm, with over 60 per cent polling. More than 56 per cent polling was recorded in Morbi.
Over 59.11 percent polling was recorded in Devbhoomi Dwarka. Polling percentage in Amreli (52.73), Bharuch (59.36), Bhavnagar (51.34), Bhavnagar (51.34), Botad (51.64), Jamnagar (53.98), Junagadh (52.04), Kutch (54.52), Navsari (65.91), Porbandar Stayed. (53.84), Rajkot (51.66), Surat (57.16), Surendranagar (58.14), and Valsad (62.46).
The total voters include 1,24,33,362 males and 1,1,5,42,811 females. 48.48 percent polling was recorded till 3 pm.
In Dharafa village of Jamjodhpur taluka of Jamnagar district, locals protested as there were no separate polling booths for men and women. They threatened to boycott the polls, claiming that separate booths had always been set up in the past.
In Junagadh, there was a ruckus when the police tried to stop a Congress leader walking towards the polling station with a gas cylinder on his shoulder to protest against the price rise. Similar protests were also seen in many other places.
The Election Commission tweeted a picture of 104-year-old Ramjibhai who, it said, “participated in the celebration of democracy by voting at the polling booth instead of opting for postal ballot”.
At least 33 ballot units, 29 control units and 69 VVPATs were replaced at various stations due to malfunction in the first three hours of polling, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said in a statement.
About 0.1 per cent ballot units, 0.1 per cent control units and 0.3 per cent VVPATs have been changed in three hours of polling. Wherever there is any minor or major problem, arrangements have been made to replace them at the earliest.”
Those who voted included former chief minister Vijay Rupani, state BJP chief CR Patil, Rajya Sabha member Parimal Nathwani, BJP candidate from Jamnagar (North) Rivaba Jadeja, former leader of opposition Paresh Dhanani, state Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president Gopal Italia . Soon.
While Rivaba Jadeja cast her vote in Rajkot with her husband and cricketer Ravindra Jadeja Voted in Jamnagar. AAP’s Italia questioned the slow turnout in the early hours.
Voting is being deliberately slowed down in Katargam AC. @ECISVEEP If you have to act like this under the pressure of BJP goons then why are you conducting elections? On an average, 3.5 percent voting took place in the entire state but only 1.41. percent in Katargam. Don’t stoop so low to beat a small child,” he said in a tweet.
Voting percentage in urban, tribal and rural areas,
In the first phase of Gujarat assembly elections, rural and tribal voters have turned out in large numbers, but urban voters have not turned out to vote on such a large scale.
Till 3 pm, 48.48 per cent voters voted in favor of 788 candidates for 89 seats in Saurashtra, Kutch and South Gujarat. The highest polling has been recorded in Tapi district at 64.27%, Narmada at 63.88% and Dang at 58.55%. In Bhavnagar district of Saurashtra, 45.91 per cent votes were cast, 46.03 per cent in Junagadh district and 47.01 per cent in Surat.
Assembly-wise polling shows a huge difference between the enthusiasm for voting in tribal reserved seat Nijar at 66.42%, Kaprada (64.45%), while in urban areas it was 42.90% in Rajkot West and 43.42% in Rajkot South.
Yatish Desai, the Congress candidate in Gondal, the most sensitive assembly constituency in Rajkot district, alleged that the party’s polling agent Jaideep Parkhia was beaten up by BJP leader Babubhai Tolia’s son after he attempted bogus voting at Jamwadi polling station in the constituency.
The remaining 93 seats in the 182-member assembly will go to polls in the second phase on December 5 and the counting of votes will take place along with the Himachal Pradesh elections on December 8.
(with inputs from agencies)
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