8:18 AM
8:17 AM First phase: Maximum candidates contesting on a seat are 27 from Jamnagar Rural. Minimum are 3 from Jhagadia and Gandevi
8:16 AM People should come out in large numbers to vote. We are very confident, no question of any challenge: Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani
8:15 AM Voting for first phase of Gujarat Election 2017 begins. Visuals from Bharuch's Ankleshwar
8:14 AM Voting underway in J H Ambani Saraswati Vidyamandir polling booth in Surat
8:13 AM The crucial elections are being seen as prestige battle for BJP, which has been ruling the state for last 22 years, and litmus test for the Congress.
8:12 AM Rahul had alleged that Prime Minister Modi was silent about the future of Gujarat while slamming the ruling BJP for delaying the release of its manifesto.
8:12 AM Reacting to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's barb on BJP's manifesto, Prasad said the Congress has never fulfilled the promises made in its manifesto.
8:11 AM Ahead of the polling, Ravi Shankar Parasad said, "the BJP will score a historic win. There will be three reasons of BJP's victory. The work of BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and his popularity and the way Congress insulted Modi. People of Gujarat will take revenge of this."
8:10 AM
8:05 AM Modi tweeted: Phase 1 of Gujarat polls begin. Urging all those voting today to turnout in record numbers and vote. I particularly call upon youngsters to exercise their franchise.
8:04 AM
8:04 AM Gujarat Assembly elections: The first phase of polls will be held in 89 seats of Kutch, Saurashtra and South Gujarat with over two crore voters deciding the fate 977 candidates.
8:03 AM In the wake of EVM tampering allegation from various political parties, the EC has also put in place administrative safeguards and security protocols to prevent any misuse of EVM and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.
8:00 AM First phase of voting for 89 seats begins
7:58 AM Gujarat Elections 2017: CCTV cameras have also been installed for effective monitoring and surveillance.
7:57 AM Gujarat Elections 2017: The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and State Armed Police (SAP) drawn from other states have also been deployed to supplement the local police force
7:56 AM Gujarat Elections 2017: Over 1,74,000 police personnel have been deployed with security apparatus on highest alert to ensure smooth conduct of the voting process today.
7:54 AM As the first phase of Gujarat assembly election is about to begin, the security has been beefed up to maintain law and order across the state.
11:16 PM
9:55 PM Congress has instructed all its spokespersons not to comment on Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his public addresses.
9:54 PM ALSO READ: In Gujarat battle, Congress prepares for 2019 poll war
9:29 PM
Rahul confidently said the party is going to win the Assembly elections in Gujarat.
"A storm is on its way," Rahul said.
9:27 PM Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi, during a public rally in Chhota Udaipur, said: "The Congress respects the position held by the Prime Minister of India and by using the wrong words, nobody from the party can speak against him. Prime Minister Modi can say anything about us, that's why we took strong action against Mani Shankar Aiyar". (More details)
9:22 PM A political slugfest erupted between contesting political parties ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections. Click HERE to read more details
Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi
9:15 PM
Aiyar on Thursday termed Modi as 'neech aadmi' (low-born) and said he was not civilised enough and should refrain from practicing "dirty politics".
However, Aiyar clarified that the word 'neech' holds different meanings, adding he would want to apologise for the wrong translation.
9:13 PM
9:12 PM The Prime Minister questioned the moral and ethics of the age-old party.
9:09 PM The Prime Minister continued to dictate evidences where the senior Congress leaders like Digvijaya Singh, Pramod Tiwari, Jairam Ramesh, Beni Prasad Verma and Ghulam Nabi Azad have used derogatory remarks against him.
9:08 PM Continuing his tirade against the Congress, the Prime Minister Modi said:
9:06 PM Reacting on suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's remark against him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday alleged that the Congress party had not called him 'Neech' for the first time as party president Sonia Gandhi and her family members had made similar derogatory remarks.
8:57 PM Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also hit out at the Congress.
8:52 PM The Prime Minister said that the Centre ensured all those who perpetrated the Amarnath attack were punished by the Indian Armed Forces.
8:50 PM
Paving the way for better economic prospects for small shop owners, he said they can run their shops for long duration as similar to malls.
8:49 PM Higlighting the miserable state of the Sabarmati River under the Congress, he said, "The river was not discovered during our time. Do we remember its pitiable condition during the Congress rule. We built a riverfront and you can see the difference in Ahmedabad."
8:48 PM "Any party that is anti-development and prefers to divide society will never be accepted in Gujarat and that is why Congress won't win. Gujarat has not forgotten the mis-governance of the Congress," the Prime Minister said
8:46 PM Launching a scathing attack on Congress, PM Modi said the party will never be accepted in poll-bound Gujarat for its anti-development stand and for aiming to divide society.
8:33 PM
Union minister of state for Human Resource Development and RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha said that there is no "if and but" about the BJP winning Assembly elections and forming a new government in Gujarat. (
Read everything that he said here)
8:32 PM BJP supporters attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election campaign rally in Kalol
8:26 PM VIDEO: You can watch Modi addressing an election rally in Nikol, Gujarat.
8:20 PM Click HERE for a detailed report on the party's manifesto
8:18 PM
The manifesto released today said it has resolved to "double farmers' income through various means, such as cheap fertilisers and seeds, better irrigation, proper Minimum Support Prices and (access to) food processing".
For women, the party promised to increase the pension for widows at regular intervals.
8:15 PM The BJP released its election manifesto, or 'sankalp patra' (vision document) today. BJP's election in-charge for Gujarat, Arun Jaitley, said it was prepared keeping in mind the party's resolution to maintain and improve on the 10-per cent growth clocked by the state under the party's rule.
The Opposition Congress had released its ‘people’s manifesto’ on December 4.
8:10 PM
Saurashtra and Kutch are crucial for the ruling BJP as these two regions have the highest concentration of seats in the first phase.
Saurashtra, located on the Arabian Sea coast, covers 11 districts of the state.
Kutch is the largest district comprising 10 talukas, 939 villages and six municipalities.
8:09 PM A big takeaway for the Congress was ensuring the support of the Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), an umbrella organisation of the numerically strong Patidar community, which traditionally formed the bedrock of the BJP's support in Gujarat.
8:03 PM The EC is also deploying for the first time the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines in all the polling stations to "inject greater transparency and credibility" to the voting process. Click HERE for full details.
8:01 PM The Election Commission sought to allay apprehensions regarding the the integrity of its electronic voting machines (EVMs) by saying that it has put in place "an elaborate framework of system, security protocols and procedural checks" to prevent any "possible misuse" of the voting machines.
7:56 PM From political slugfest to temple visits, both BJP and Congress are leaving no stones unturned to win Gujarat's assembly elections.
7:56 PM The election fever was clearly seen to have taken over Gujarat today as a hoards of supporters gathered to merely see Rahul Gandhi eat Pav Bhaji at a local shop in Tarapur.
7:54 PM While the BJP is fighting anti-incumbency and struggling to alter a seemingly negative perception about demonetisation and the goods and services tax (GST) rollout, the Congress, galvanised by an assertive Rahul Gandhi, has mainly targeted the "hollow Gujarat development model" to slam Modi.
7:53 PM To win, a party needs 92 seats; survey predicts BJP winning with an average of 105-106 seats
7:53 PM
Three big polls carried out in the run-up to the vote on Saturday and next week predicted a victory for BJP with an average of 105-106 seats.
ABP-CDS poll: The poll conducted this week, among 3,655 voters across 50 Assembly constituencies, gave the BJP 91-99 seats in the 182-member state house and Congress 78-86, suggesting a close fight.
India TV poll: The opinion poll predicts that BJP will bag 106-116 seats, while Congress will win 63-73 seats. Other parties and independents will gain the remaining two-four seats.
7:51 PM BJP President Amit Shah also held multiple election rallies in Banaskantha, Panchmahal, Kheda and Ahmedabad districts.
7:50 PM Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed rallies in Bhabhar, Kalol, Himmatnagar and Nikol.
7:49 PM
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi addressed rallies in Chhota Udepur, Ahmedabad, Anand and Kheda.
7:47 PM Polling for 89 seats of Saurashtra and south Gujarat will be held tomorrow while that for 93 seats of north and central Gujarat would be held on December 14. Campaigning for the first phase ended yesterday.
7:45 PM The Congress, which is in political wilderness in Gujarat for 22 years, is desperate to break the jinx. On the other hand, the ruling BJP is bidding for a fifth term in the state.
7:45 PM The primary competition is between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress.
7:41 PM Voting for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017 will start tomorrow at 8 am and end at 5 pm.
First Published: Sat, December 09 2017. 08:00 IST
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