- Sunday, May 19, 2024
The prime minister cast his ballot in Gandhinagar constituency where his home minister Amit Shah is contesting the election.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (7) cast his ballot in the third phase of the ongoing Indian elections in his home state of Gujarat that went to the polls. He voted in a polling station in Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency from where his home minister Amit Shah is contesting this election. Shah was also there with him to cast his ballot.
Polling for 93 constituencies in the third phase began at 7 am local time and will continue till 6 pm. However, voters who remain in queue at the closing time will be allowed to cast their ballots, extending the voting time.
Shah succeeded Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) heavyweight leader LK Advani in Gandhinagar in the 2019 parliamentary elections and won by more than 550,000 votes.
In a post on X, Modi urged people to vote in record numbers and said their active participation will make the election more vibrant. He also posted the same in Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati since voting in taking place in states where these languages are spoken by the majority.
Read: Third phase of India elections today: Amit Shah in fray
Modi himself is contesting from Varanasi constituency of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh which will vote on June 1.
Urging all those who are voting in today’s phase to vote in record numbers. Their active participation will certainly make the elections more vibrant.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 7, 2024
Modi, who is a registered voter from Ranip area in Gandhinagar, also greeted people and signed autographs on his way to the polling booth in the Gujarat capital.
Voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections! Urging everyone to do so as well and strengthen our democracy. pic.twitter.com/PlLCw7Fwe3
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 7, 2024
Shah, who is contesting to retain the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, greeted his supporters, interacted with them and signed autographs at the polling booth. The senior BJP leader was accompanied by his wife Sonal Shah, son Jay Shah other family members as they exercised their franchise.
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Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel also cast his vote at a polling booth in Ahmedabad and appealed to the people to exercise their franchise to make the country developed and prosperous.
Polling is being held in 25 of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, and for bypolls in five assembly constituencies in the state.
As the voting for the third phase commenced, opposition Indian National Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged people to vote in large numbers, asserting that this is an election to protect democracy and the Constitution.
Over 1,300 candidates, including around 120 women, are in the fray in the third phase. Among the bigwigs are federal ministers Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
As many as 172 million people, including 84 million women, are eligible to vote and 185,000 polling stations manned by 1.8 million officials have been set up.
Polling is being held in 11 seats in Maharashtra, 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the remaining 14 of the 28 in Karnataka, seven in Chhattisgarh, five in Bihar, four each in Assam and West Bengal, and all two in Goa.
Polling is also underway in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2 seats) and nine seats in Madhya Pradesh, including Betul where elections were deferred,
Queues were seen at polling booths in most Lok Sabha segments in northern districts of Karnataka with voters, mostly senior citizens and morning walkers, lining up to cast their votes early, with temperature expected to rise as the day progresses.
Voting was completed in 189 seats out of 543 seats in the first two phases. The next four phases will be on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes is on June 4.
(With PTI inputs)
