- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Top leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the western Indian state of Gujarat on Thursday (1) cast their ballots in the first phase of the assembly elections.
The polling was held in 89 out of 182 constituencies and they included those in 19 districts of Kutch, Saurashtra, and South Gujarat. However, only 57 per cent voter turnout was reported in the first phase.
The second and concluding phase of the election will be held on Monday (5) and the results will be announced on Thursday (8) along with that of the northern state of Himachal Pradesh which went to polls on November 12.
Exuding confidence in the BJP’s victory in the ongoing elections, India’s junior railways minister Darshana Jardosh said they will be coming back to power in Gujarat with an absolute majority.
“People are voting for double-engine government in the state. People from every community have been voting and we will be forming a government with an absolute majority,” Jardosh said after casting her vote at a polling booth in Surat, Asian News International reported.
Gujarat state assembly speaker Nimaben Acharya cast her vote at a polling station in Bhuj in Kutch district in western Gujarat.
In Amreli in southern Gujarat, BJP leader and central fisheries minister Parshottam Rupala cast his ballot.
Gujarat BJP vice president Mahendrasinh Sarvaiya cast his vote from the Chaturbhuj Vidyalaya polling booth in Palitana of Bhavnagar in south Gujarat.
Parliamentarian Mohan Kundaria also cast his vote from the polling booth here.
Earlier in the day, Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghavi and the state’s BJP chief CR Patil cast their votes at the respective polling stations in Surat.
Patil later said that prime minister Narendra Modi’s magic works every time and everywhere as people trust him and he is capable of meeting their expectations.
Former state chief minister Vijay Rupani also cast ballot along with his wife in Rajkot.
While Modi took to Twitter to urge people to vote in large numbers, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is backing his party as the main Opposition in the state, urged people to vote for the “future of their children”.
Gujarat has traditionally seen a two-party system with the BJP and the Indian National Congress as the main rivals but in recent times, the AAP has emerged as a challenger to the saffron party and vowed to topple it from power.
