Gujarat polls: 21 per cent voters turn up till noon in first phase

Ahmedabad: Around 11 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the initial two hours during polling on 89 seats of Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions in the first phase of the crucial Gujarat Assembly polls.

After the polling began at 8 am, people could be seen stepping out of their homes despite cold weather and queuing up to exercise their franchise at the polling stations.

According to officials, 21.09 per cent voting was recorded till 12 noon in first phase of the election.

Although there were reports of technical glitches in Electronic Voting Machines in Surat and some other centres, the polling process resumed after the machines were replaced, officials of the Election Commission said.

Prominent candidates in the fray for Saturday's battle include Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who is contesting from Rajkot (West), and Congress' Shaktisinh Gohil and Paresh Dhanani.

BJP has pitted Virendrasingh Jadeja against Gohil, who is trying his luck from Mandavi.

In the first two hours, several important leaders and candidates cast their votes, including Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, his opponent on Rajkot-West seat Indranil Rajyaguru, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, Gujarat BJP chief Jitu Vaghani and Congress MLA of Amreli seat Paresh Dhanan, among others.

Cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara also cast his vote in Rajkot.

A total of 89 seats out of 182 - spanning the Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions - are up for grabs in the first phase with 977 candidates in the fray.

Read: All you need to know about first phase of Gujarat polls

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 election is a crucial battleground for the Congress and the BJP before 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The poll campaign shaped up as a duel between Modi and Gandhi, and often turned personal.

The Congress, in political wilderness in Gujarat for nearly 22 years, is desperate to break the jinx. It has raised issues such as the BJP's "hollow development model", besides demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Gandhi emerged as the Congress' pivot to take on the might of the Prime Minister on his home turf.

While Modi addressed about 15 rallies, Gandhi spent more than seven days in Saurashtra and south Gujarat, addressing a number of meetings.

Meanwhile, the security has been beefed up in the state to ward off any untoward incidents and maintain law and order.

Security personnel have been deployed to maintain peaceful atmosphere for the smooth conduct of elections.

CCTV cameras have also been installed for effective monitoring and surveillance.

The high voltage campaign for the first phase ended on Thursday evening.

The second phase will be held on December 14 for 93 assembly constituencies while counting of the votes will be done on December 18.