Gujarat Assembly Election 2017: Votes will be counted on December 18.
Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fly in from Mumbai this morning to vote in Ahmedabad at about 11.45 am in the second and last phase of the crucial Gujarat assembly elections. BJP chief Amit Shah, along with son Jay Shah, visited a temple after voting early; PM Modi's mother Heeraben, 95, has voted in Gandhinagar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Ahmedabad. Hours before polling began, a row erupted over Rahul Gandhi's interview to a local television channel in Gujarat that aired on Wednesday. The BJP alleged that Mr Gandhi violated the model code of conduct and complained to the Election Commission, which has issued a notice to him. The Congress has demanded similar action against PM Modi for a speech at industry body FICCI.
Here is your 10-point cheatsheet to the story:
- North and central Gujarat are voting in 93 of the state's 182 constituencies in what is billed as a PM Modi vs Rahul Gandhi contest. Both leaders urged Gujarat this morning to vote in record numbers. Voting began at 8 am and will end at 5 this evening. Votes will be counted on Monday, December 18.
- In the first phase of assembly elections in 89 constituencies across Kutch, Saurashtra and south Gujarat on Saturday last, there was 68 per cent voter turnout, lower than last time's 71.3 per cent for the whole of Gujarat.
- The ruling BJP had won 52 of the 93 constituencies voting today in the 2012 assembly election, and the Congress had won 39. The BJP's big challenge in this round is to retain Ahmedabad and Vadodara, Gujarat's two mega cities that had overwhelmingly backed the party in the last election. The BJP had won 26 of the 31 seats from these two districts alone.
- It is in the tribal belt that the BJP, which has been in power for the last 22 years, expects to make up for any loss in other places because of an anti-incumbency sentiment. The BJP's lead campaigner PM Modi has extensively focused on the tribal belts to complement the party's conscious effort to deepen its roots within the tribal community, including encouraging local leaders.
- The Congress has attempted to harness the anger of key groups against the ruling party and has tied up with Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, backward leader Alpesh Thakore and the face of the Patel agitation for reservation, Hardik Patel.
- Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel is contesting from Mehsana, from where Hardik Patel had launched his movement to demand reservation for Patels or Paatidars in government jobs and colleges. Jignesh Mevani is contesting from Vadgam as an Independent candidate, with the Congress not fielding anyone against him.
- PM Modi will vote at a polling booth in the Nishan High School in Ranip locality of Sabarmati, about 10 km from the river from where he took off in a seaplane on Tuesday after a roadshow in Ahmedabad was cancelled. As he left for Delhi after wrapping up a hectic campaign, PM Modi made an emotional vote appeal asking Gujarat to "not only give the BJP an overwhelming majority but also ensure that BJP wins in every polling booth across the state."
- "There is a massive undercurrent against the BJP in Gujarat," said Rahul Gandhi, who, quite unlike his previous efforts in state elections, camped in Gujarat for weeks and campaigned aggressively. He attacked the BJP on economic and development issues during much of his campaign hoping to amplify any anti-incumbency factor that could go against the BJP after its uninterrupted run in power for 22 years. Mr Gandhi has predicted a "zabardast" verdict.
- PM Modi has pitched the Gujarat battle as one between "vikas (development)" and "vanshwaad (dynasty)," in an attack on Rahul Gandhi, who is set to take over from his mother Sonia Gandhi as Congress president on Saturday, before votes are counted.
- Just as campaigning ended, the PM invoked Gujarati pride urging voters to reject the Congress over the "neech" slur by the party's Mani Shankar Aiyar. The PM linked Mr Aiyar's comment with him hosting a dinner for former Pakistan Foreign Affairs Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and attended by former PM Manmohan Singh and other Congress leaders last week and has said his home state will "take revenge on voting day."
