Gujarat Assembly Election 2022 Phase-1 Voting Live Updates: BJP will form government in Gujarat for seventh time, former CM Vijay Rupani says

100-year-old Kamuben Lalabhai Patel on Thursday exercised her franchise in Umargam in the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections. As per chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar, Gujarat has 9.8 lakh senior citizen voters.

18.95% voter turnout recorded till 11am in the first phase of Gujarat assembly elections

Gujarat polls 2022: Fertile for Congress; BJP vote machine aims to pluck seats

Gujarat finance minister Kanubhai Desai, who cast his vote from Valsad, said that people have trust in BJP and there will be further development in the state. "Gujarat has been progressing and the people of the state have decided to vote for the BJP. People have trust in BJP and there will be a development further in the state. BJP will form the government in the state," said Desai.

Former CM Vijay Rupani said he is confident that BJP is going to form the government in Gujarat for the seventh time. "BJP will win all four seats of Rajkot. BJP candidates have done good campaigning. I appeal to people to cast their votes. Voting is necessary to safeguard democracy. I am confident that BJP is going to form govt in Gujarat for the seventh time. People have love and respect for PM Modi, they won't go anywhere else," said Rupani.

Solanki was inspired by his father to grow a moustache, and by the time he joined the Army at the age of 19, he had a long moustache. "In the Army, I got a special allowance to maintain my moustache. I was known as moochwala in my regiment. My moustache is my pride. It makes me stand out in the crowd," he said. His opponents from the AAP, Congress and the BJP do not attach much importance to his candidature. But, Solanki says he will not give up till he wins an election. "We were taught in the Army not to give up until the last bullet and the last drop of blood. The first time when I contested, I got 1,000 votes, the second time it was around 2,500 votes. This time I hope to improve my tally," he said.

Solanki claims he served at different frontiers from the west, east to the north, and says his moustache garners attention wherever he goes during the campaigning. "When I was in the Army, my moustache used to attract attention as senior officers always admired it. When I am contesting elections, people get amused seeing my moustache. Children come out and try to touch it, while youngsters ask for tips on how to grow such a moustache," he said. He said if elected, he would appeal to the government of Gujarat to bring in a law to encourage the youth to grow moustache and will also raise the issues pertaining to the ex-service personnel.

"Moochein ho to inki jaisi, warna na ho," says a voter quoting a dialogue from the famous Bollywood film 'Sharaabi' while pointing out at a man curling up his 2.5-feet-long moustache and seeking votes from traders at a market in Himmatnagar. Meet Maganbhai Solanki (57), the man proud of his gunslinger moustache who is contesting as an independent candidate from the Himmatnagar seat in Sabarkantha district, which is currently with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Solanki, who retired from the Army as honorary Lieutenant in 2012, says he loves contesting elections and has been doing so since the 2017 Gujarat assembly polls. "I was then a candidate of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). I lost but did not give up. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, I contested as an independent. This time also I am contesting as an independent," he told PTI. (PTI)

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel holds a roadshow in Mehsana. It will be voting in the second phase of the elections, to be held on December 5.

PM Modi has relied on his connection with Gujarat, urging people to help Bhupendra (Patel), the BJP’s CM candidate, break the electoral records of Narendra. Kejriwal has attacked the BJP directly and has promised the implementation of free electricity, better education, and healthcare. Both Gandhi and Kejriwal invoked the Morbi bridge tragedy. Gandhi in his two speeches focused on tribal issues and identified Gujarat and Mahatma Gandhi as the inspiration for his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The AAP gained 27 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation last year. Therefore, the party has concentrated on the Diamond City. Kejriwal devoted November 22, 27, and 28 to Surat and the nearby constituencies. He also travelled to Bhavnagar and Amreli in Saurashtra from where many diamond workers have settled in Surat.

In the entire 2017 campaign, the PM had addressed 34 rallies. When he starts campaigning for the second phase, his tally will reach 30. By the end of the campaign it may breach the 2017 mark. Gandhi had almost matched the PM with 30 rallies in the last campaign. “The BJP has focused on the areas where the Congress had won in 2017,” said a political observer. “Valsad, from where the PM’s campaign started, has one of threeseats with the Congress. In Gir Somnath, his next stop, the Congress had won four seats. ”

As the implacable hostilities of campaigning for the first phase of Gujarat election ended on Tuesday, the analysis of star campaigners indicated the BJP and the AAP relied on their most known faces — PM Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal. PM Modi helmed 23 rallies and roadshows, and Kejriwal 19. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi participated in two events in Rajkot and Mahuva near Surat on November 21.

Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja casts his vote at a polling station in Jamnagar. His wife and BJP candidate Rivaba Jadeja voted in Rajkot earlier today. "I appeal to the people to vote in large numbers," Ravindra Jadeja said.

"For the time being, I'll observe and understand things. Let's see after a year," Mumtaz on being asked if she'll contest Lok Sabha polls

We are advocating a change. Chief ministers were changed, so they can feel anti-incumbency. There is a neck-to-neck fight here (Ankleshwar): Mumtaz Patel

Mumtaz Patel, daughter of late senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, casts her vote at a polling booth in Ankleshwar, Bharuch

I'm with Congress. Party matter is different from family matter. We should stay with our party, been with them for years. He knows it's a party matter, no family problem: Anirudhsinh Jadeja, cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's father & BJP candidate Rivaba Jadeja's father-in-law

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that the voters of the first phase have a golden opportunity and they should vote for the state's better future. "Voting is being held on 89 seats in the first phase of Gujarat elections today. My appeal to all the voters of the assembly constituencies where voting is taking place in Gujarat today - You have a golden opportunity, do vote for the better future of Gujarat and your children, this time do something big," Kejriwal said.

Dang and Tapi districts recorded highest voter turnout in state in the first hour of polling. In Dang, 7.76 per cent votes were polled while in Tapi 7.25 per cent.