Skip to main content

68% turnout in phase 1 of Gujarat polls, lower than 2012: 10 points


Gujarat recorded around 68 per cent voter turnout on Saturday in the first phase of assembly elections across 89 constituencies in Kutch, Saurashtra and south Gujarat. The figure is lower than last time, when 71.3 per cent polling took place, the Election Commission said. There were some reports of electronic voting machines or EVMs malfunctioning and the Election Commission said faulty machines found in 7-8 booths were fixed or replaced by 11 am. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has dismissed the Congress allegations of "a conspiracy," saying the opposition party is staring at defeat as "voters have made up their minds months in advance".
Here is your 10-point guide to the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly Elections:
The Gujarat election is seen as a Prime Minister Narendra Modi vs Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi duel, with both leading their parties from the front in an aggressive, often bitter and personal campaign, to win the crucial state ahead of next year's national election.
The ruling BJP holds 67 and the Congress 16 of the 89 seats where polling is being held in the first phase. The rest of Gujarat's 182 constituencies will vote on Thursday next. Results will be announced on December 18.
Gujarat saw a 71.32 per cent voter turnout in 2012, when Chief Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP to its fourth consecutive term in power. It was the highest turnout since 1980. The BJP has ruled Gujarat for the last 22 years straight.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was among early voters this morning, asserting that the BJP will win again, "We are very confident, there is no question of any challenge," he said after casting his vote. Mr Rupani takes on Indranil Rajyaguru, the richest man in the state assembly, in Saurashtra's Rajkot West in the most closely watched battle today.
The Congress' senior leader Ahmed Patel claimed his party will win more than 110 seats; it needs 92 to form government. But he expressed misgivings over reports of faulty EVMs and alleged, "The BJP is an opportunist. They can do anything to stay in power." Mr Patel has asked the Election Commission to take "necessary action" about malfunctioning EVMs.
The Election Commission has said there were minor problems that were fixed. "There are 24,000 polling booths in Gujarat, the problem has occurred in 7 or 8 booths," Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti told NDTV. "We have a number of EVMs in reserve. Concerned officials keeping continuous check," he added.
Today's battle for the 12 seats in Surat, the diamond and textile hub and a BJP stronghold, is being seen as a referendum on the notes ban and new national tax GST. Rahul Gandhi has urged traders to punish the BJP, alleging that its mega reforms have brought small business to their knees. Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Smriti Irani have defended the GST and demonetisation, trying to allay the concerns of the traders.
Saurashtra and Kutch, which have the maximum number of constituencies that vote today, are also crucial. The party that wins the most seats in these regions will be seen to have a head start.
Located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, Saurashtra covers 11 districts has a huge population of the influential Patels or Patidars, who have been demanding that they be included among castes that get benefits of affirmative action.

To win the Gujarat elections, a party needs to get a majority in 92 seats. In 2012, the BJP had won 116 seats.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meryl Streep wants to trademark her own name

Meryl Streep has won three Oscars, three Emmys and six Golden Globes during her 40-year long career on stage, screen and television. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP, File) Meryl Streep, the most celebrated actress of her generation, has filed an application to trademark her name. The application was filed with US Patent and Trademark Office on January 22, records show. It requests that the name Meryl Streep be trademarked for “entertainment services,” movie appearances, speaking engagements and autographs. Streep, 68, last week extended her record to 21 Academy Award nominations, this time for her role in “The Post.” She has won three Oscars, three Emmys and six Golden Globes during her 40-year long career on stage, screen and television. It is not clear why Streep would file a trademark application at this stage in her career and her attorney and publicist did not return a request for comment on Monday. Many celebrities trademark their names or catch phrases to pro...
Post a Comment
Read more

Beijing’s struggle against pollution will be tough, take time: Mayor

Beijing’s battle against air pollution will take time and be very tough to win despite recent improvements, the acting mayor of China’s capital said on Wednesday. The city has been fighting to clean its notoriously smoggy air through steps such as pushing households and factories to switch away from coal to cleaner fuels like natural gas. “Further improvement in air quality (will be) extremely difficult,” acting mayor of Beijing, Chen Jining, said in a statement released during the city’s congress meeting. The central government’s intense focus on air quality means many local officials’ careers are linked to the success of efforts to tackle smog, making it unusual to speak candidly about the challenges of meeting tough targets. Beijing has chalked up a short-term success by cutting the annual average level of breathable particulate matter (PM 2.5) to 58 micrograms per cubic metre in 2017, beating a target set by the State Council in 2012. However, the city is still some way f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Under fire, Steve Bannon backs off explosive comments about Donald Trump’s son

Bannon, ousted from the White House in August, was quoted in “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” by journalist Michael Wolff, as saying a June 2016 meeting with a group of Russians attended by Donald Trump Jr. and his father’s top campaign officials was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.” (Photo: Reuters) President Donald Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon on Sunday backed away from derogatory comments ascribed to him about Trump’s son in a new book that sparked White House outrage and could threaten Bannon’s influence as a would-be conservative power broker. Bannon, ousted from the White House in August, was quoted in “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” by journalist Michael Wolff, as saying a June 2016 meeting with a group of Russians attended by Donald Trump Jr. and his father’s top campaign officials was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.” The president responded by saying Bannon had lost his mind, and the White House suggested the hard-right news site...
Post a Comment
Read more