Over 55% voting turnout was registered till 5 p.m. in the 25 parliamentary constituencies of Gujarat where polling was held in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election on Tuesday.
There are 265 candidates in the fray, including three Cabinet ministers Amit Shah, Mansukh Mandaviya and Parshottam Rupala and a Minister of State Devusinh Chauhan.
The polls were held in 25 of the 26 constituencies in the State because the ruling BJP bagged the Surat seat unopposed after eight out of nine eligible candidates withdrew their nomination forms. BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared the winner.
Lok Sabha polls 2024 in Gujarat, May 7, 2024 | Highlights
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had cast their votes in Ranip and Naranpura booths, respectively.
Mr. Modi urged voters to cast their ballots and participate in the democratic process.
“An average 55.22 % voter turnout was recorded between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. in Gujarat,” according to the Election Commission. The final turnout figures will be released later.
Valsad district witnessed the highest voter turnout (68.12 %) followed by Banaskantha at 64.48%, Chhotaudepur at 63.76%, and Bharuch at 63.56%.
92 complaints received
Gujarat’s Chief Electoral Officer P. Bharathi said that 92 complaints about electronic voting machines, the law and order situation and bogus voting were received at the CEO’s control room and those complaints were attended to immediately.
The Congress filed as many as 19 complaints about various issues including bogus voting in Banaskantha and other places. It has also complained to the EC that the Prime Minister held a roadshow when he reached the voting booth in Ranip.
Ms. Bharathi added that three villages namely Kesar in Bharuch district, Sandhara village of Surat district and Bhakhri village of Banaskantha completely boycotted the voting while a few other villages partially boycotted the voting.
There were no immediate reasons given about why the villages had shunned the polls.
In Amreli, a 45-year-old polling official died of heart attack while on duty. She had collapsed and was declared “brought dead” at the hospital.
EC officials said that a total of 4.97 crore people, comprising 2.56 crore men, 2.41 crore women and 1,534 from the transgender community were registered voters in 50,788 polling booths. These comprise 17,275 polling booths in urban areas and 33,513 in rural areas.
