The second phase of elections in Gujarat on Thursday will see polling held for 93 assembly constituencies across 14 districts in northern and central regions of the state, with a host of VVIPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, descending on Ahmedabad to cast their vote.
Meanwhile, in the so-called 'dry' state of Gujarat, the police and administration have seized around Rs 53 crore worth of goods for violation of the state's liquor prohibition policy. The seizure was carried out as a special drive and a part of the election procedure.
Special deployment of the police has been made for the elections and for law and order.
Representational image. AP
The second phase will see 851 candidates contest for the 93 assembly seats. Elections will be held in Banaskantha, Patan, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Aravalli, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Chhota Udepur districts from 8 am to 5 pm. A total of 25,575 polling booths have been set up in 14,523 places.
The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Gujarat's office has completed all the necessary procedures and claimed to be fully prepared for the day.
Apart from the 112 general observers deployed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the Gujarat elections, 70 counting observers have been appointed by the ECI for counting of votes registered in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) which will be carried out on 18 December in 37 selected regions of the state.
To take care of the law and order situation, the ECI has deployed hundreds of companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), 12 companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and 19 more companies of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) for the election.
Modi will be casting his vote at Nishan Vidyalaya in Ranip area of Ahmedabad, while Amit Shah will be in the city to cast his vote from his former state assembly constituency, Naranpura. Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitely will cast his vote from Vejalpur region of Ahmedabad.
Former deputy prime minister and senior BJP leader LK Advani too will be in Ahmedabad to cast his vote from Khanpur area. The sitting MLA from Abdasa and Congress candidate from Mandvi, Shaktisinh Gohil will be casting his vote in Gandhinagar.
State Congress President Bharatsinh Solanki will exercise his voting right in Borsad town of Kheda district. Another Congress candidate Siddharth Patel will be casting his vote from Dabhoi.
During elections in the second phase, 1,700 of the critical poling booths will be covered under the web casting with constant monitoring of these booths.
On the seizures made, Additional Director General of Police (DGP) adminstration, Mohan Jha said, "Since the date of announcement of the assembly polls, the administration has seized Rs 23.50 crore worth Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and Rs 30.06 lakh worth of country liquor and confiscated Rs 23.16 crore of other goods like the vehicles used for transportation, amounting to Rs 52.97 crore worth for the violation of the prohibition law that is effective in the state. We have also arrested 26,913 persons for violation of prohibition in 33,191 cases."
Jha said, "Under the law, the police have filed 1,59,486 cases under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Out of the total 56, 490 licensed arms in the state, 51,974 have submitted, while 4,436 are exempted with remaining only 80 arms that have not been submitted. The police have issued non bailable warrants to 60,989 persons and also confiscated 92 illegal arms, 122 cartridges and 100 grams of explosives."
The Flying Squad and the Static Surveillance Teams (SST) have seized Rs 2.52 crore of unaccounted cash in 22 cases and in five cases bullion worth Rs 4.14 crore have been seized. Out of these 16 cases have been handed over to the Income Tax (IT) department.
Published Date: Dec 14, 2017 08:16 am | Updated Date: Dec 14, 2017 08:25 am
Highlights
Heavy security as voting begins in 93 constituencies
The Election Commission has deployed hundreds of companies of the Central Armed Police Forces, 12 companies of Rapid Action Force and 19 companies of the State Reserve Police Force for the election.
Here is the Gujarat election in numbers
Voting underway in Hardik Patel's hometown of Viramgam
Visuals from Vadodara
Hardik Patel's parents pray ahead of polls
Gujarat BJP stalwarts to vote in Ahmedabad
Former chief minister Anandiben Patel and deputy chief minister Nitin Patel will vote at the Shilaj Primary School at S P Ring Road and at the Sanskar Bharti School at Kadi, respectively, reports News18.
Polling in Gujarat to begin shortly
Interesting piece of trivia
Why no action against PM, Amit Shah? asks Chidambaram
Congress issues 4-point list of demands from EC against Narendra Modi, Amit Shah
The Congress on Wednesday petitioned the Election Commission for action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for addressing an event organised by an industry body on the eve of the final phase of the Gujarat polls where he attacked the main opposition party.
The Congress's complaint came soon after the EC issued a show cause notice to Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi for prima facie violating the model code by giving interviews to Gujarati TV channels, and asked him to reply by 18 December, failing which it will decide the matter without any reference to him.
A delegation of Congress leaders comprising Ashok Gehlot, Anand Sharma and Randeep Surjewala handed over a memorandum to the poll body, demanding strong action against Modi and other BJP leaders for addressing press conferences and events on the eve of last phase of polling in Gujarat.
Amit Shah urges people to vote in large numbers
Pitching the Gujarat Assembly polls as a battle between "dynastic rule and rule of development", BJP chief Amit Shah tonight asked people to vote in large numbers to help the rule of development win.
In a statement on the eve of the second and last phase of the Gujarat assembly polls, he claimed that the state suffered a lot of discrimination and injustice under the UPA government but is now developing fast, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm in the Centre.
PTI
Enrich the festival of democracy, says Modi
P Chidambaram urges Gujarat to not 'underestimate' their vote
Shaktisinh Gohil, Bharatsinh Solanki to vote too
The sitting MLA from Abdasa and Congress candidate from Mandvi, Shaktisinh Gohil will be casting his vote in Gandhinagar. State Congress President Bharatsinh Solanki will exercise his voting right in Borsad town of Kheda district. Another Congress candidate Siddharth Patel will be casting his vote from Dabhoi.
Congress seeks ban on any telecast of any leader casting his or her vote
Congress spokesperson tweets memorandum to EC seeking action against BJP leaders
Star voters in phase 2 of Gujarat polls
Narendra Modi: Ranip, Ahmedabad
Hardik Patel: Viramgam
Alpesh Thakore: Viramgam
Amit Shah: Naranpura, Ahmedabad
LK Advani: Khanpur, Ahmedabad
Ahmed Patel: Piraman Village, Bharuch district
Jignesh Mewani: Meghaninagar, Ahmedabad
North and central Gujarat goes to poll to today
A total of 14 districts in north and central Gujarat will go to polls on Thursday. A total of 25,575 polling booths have been set up in 14,523 places.
851 candidates across 93 Assembly seats
The second phase will see 851 candidates contest for the 93 Assembly seats. Elections will be held in Banaskantha, Patan, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Aravalli, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Chhota Udepur districts from 8 am to 5 pm.
Ahead of second phase of polling, Rahul Gandhi urges Gujarat to vote for 'Navsarjan'
08:25 (IST)
Heavy security as voting begins in 93 constituencies
The Election Commission has deployed hundreds of companies of the Central Armed Police Forces, 12 companies of Rapid Action Force and 19 companies of the State Reserve Police Force for the election.
08:22 (IST)
Here is the Gujarat election in numbers
08:17 (IST)
Voting underway in Hardik Patel's hometown of Viramgam
08:16 (IST)
Visuals from Vadodara
08:16 (IST)
Hardik Patel's parents pray ahead of polls
08:00 (IST)
Gujarat BJP stalwarts to vote in Ahmedabad
Former chief minister Anandiben Patel and deputy chief minister Nitin Patel will vote at the Shilaj Primary School at S P Ring Road and at the Sanskar Bharti School at Kadi, respectively, reports News18.
07:56 (IST)
Polling in Gujarat to begin shortly
07:54 (IST)
Interesting piece of trivia
07:51 (IST)
Rahul Gandhi's 25 temple visits in state is simply what Hindus do, it's not soft Hindutva
To describe (Rahul Gandhi's temple trips) as soft Hindutva is incorrect. Soft Hindutva is when the Congress does mildly Hindutva things. The origin of the term soft Hindutva lies in Rajiv Gandhi ordering of the opening of the gates of the Ram Mandir inside the Babri Masjid in 1986, allowing a puja to take place inside. The political calculation was to appease rising Hindutva but we know what happened later. The move did not weaken Hindutva forces, only strengthened them.
Similarly, Narasimha Rao’s failure to stop the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992 led to the Congress being accused of soft Hindutva, accelerating the shift of Muslim votes from Congress to regional parties in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Worshipping in temples is not soft Hindutva or any kind of Hindutva. Labelling temple-going as Hindutva misunderstands what Hindutva is.
07:47 (IST)
Why no action against PM, Amit Shah? asks Chidambaram
07:36 (IST)
Congress issues 4-point list of demands from EC against Narendra Modi, Amit Shah
The Congress on Wednesday petitioned the Election Commission for action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for addressing an event organised by an industry body on the eve of the final phase of the Gujarat polls where he attacked the main opposition party.
The Congress's complaint came soon after the EC issued a show cause notice to Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi for prima facie violating the model code by giving interviews to Gujarati TV channels, and asked him to reply by 18 December, failing which it will decide the matter without any reference to him.
A delegation of Congress leaders comprising Ashok Gehlot, Anand Sharma and Randeep Surjewala handed over a memorandum to the poll body, demanding strong action against Modi and other BJP leaders for addressing press conferences and events on the eve of last phase of polling in Gujarat.
07:35 (IST)
Amit Shah urges people to vote in large numbers
Pitching the Gujarat Assembly polls as a battle between "dynastic rule and rule of development", BJP chief Amit Shah tonight asked people to vote in large numbers to help the rule of development win.
In a statement on the eve of the second and last phase of the Gujarat assembly polls, he claimed that the state suffered a lot of discrimination and injustice under the UPA government but is now developing fast, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm in the Centre.
PTI
07:34 (IST)
Enrich the festival of democracy, says Modi
07:33 (IST)
P Chidambaram urges Gujarat to not 'underestimate' their vote
07:16 (IST)
Shaktisinh Gohil, Bharatsinh Solanki to vote too
The sitting MLA from Abdasa and Congress candidate from Mandvi, Shaktisinh Gohil will be casting his vote in Gandhinagar. State Congress President Bharatsinh Solanki will exercise his voting right in Borsad town of Kheda district. Another Congress candidate Siddharth Patel will be casting his vote from Dabhoi.
07:14 (IST)
Congress seeks ban on any telecast of any leader casting his or her vote
07:10 (IST)
Congress spokesperson tweets memorandum to EC seeking action against BJP leaders
07:08 (IST)
Star voters in phase 2 of Gujarat polls
Narendra Modi: Ranip, Ahmedabad
Hardik Patel: Viramgam
Alpesh Thakore: Viramgam
Amit Shah: Naranpura, Ahmedabad
LK Advani: Khanpur, Ahmedabad
Ahmed Patel: Piraman Village, Bharuch district
Jignesh Mewani: Meghaninagar, Ahmedabad
06:58 (IST)
North and central Gujarat goes to poll to today
A total of 14 districts in north and central Gujarat will go to polls on Thursday. A total of 25,575 polling booths have been set up in 14,523 places.
06:56 (IST)
851 candidates across 93 Assembly seats
The second phase will see 851 candidates contest for the 93 Assembly seats. Elections will be held in Banaskantha, Patan, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Aravalli, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Chhota Udepur districts from 8 am to 5 pm.
06:51 (IST)
Ahead of second phase of polling, Rahul Gandhi urges Gujarat to vote for 'Navsarjan'