Gujarat phase 1 turnout drops to 62.8% from 67% in 2017, tribals display polling spirit

RAJKOT/SURAT: A little over 62.84% of the total 2.39 crore electors exercised their franchise to decide the fate of 788 candidates on 89 seats of Saurashtra and south Gujarat that went to polls in the first phase on Thursday.
The voting was about 5% less compared to the 2017 elections that were held in the backdrop of caste-based agitations led by plucky Patidar, Dalit and OBC leaders as well as some burning issues like demonetization and GST implementation.
Gujarat's chief electoral officer P Bharathi said, "Despite major awareness campaigns, the turnout is less and it's a matter of concern. There can be multiple reasons for low voting."
Bharathi said barring some glitches of EVM, VVPAT machine malfunctions and model code of conduct (MCC) violations, no other serious complaints of violence or misconduct were reported.
Besides being a test for over a year-old Bhupendra Patel government, the elections are important for BJP, hoping for a third straight win in the general elections less than two years from now.
Fate of nine ministers, 7 BJP rebels sealed
The first phase of voting has also sealed the fate of nine ministers in Patel's cabinet. The first phase is also a litmus test for seven BJP rebels who are contesting as independents after being overlooked for tickets.
The tribal areas of south Gujarat maintained their reputation of overwhelming turnout with almost all booths witnessing an outpouring of voters. Jhagadia, the pocket borough of tribal 'Robinhood' Chhotu Vasava, clocked nearly 78% turnout.
Kaprada in Valsad clocked nearly 76% turnout followed by Dharampur which recorded close 65%. BJP has strongly banked on the Astol water supply project. , deemed to be an engineering feat for taking water to the height of a 200-storey building and supplying it to 175 villages of these two talukas.Patidar-dominated Morbi, which had recorded the highest 75% voting in 2017 polls, saw a slight fall in voting to around 67% clearly showing that residents were still recuperating from the trauma of the October 30 suspension bridge collapse that killed 135 people. The adjacent Wankaner seat, where Muslim voters are the key decider, recorded around 72% voting.
The lowest voting was reported in Porbandar (53.84%) where Congress veteran Arjun Modhwadia is pitted against BJP minister Babu Bokhiriya. Other Patidar-dominated seats in districts like Amreli, Junagadh and Gir-Somnath where the BJP had suffered serious reverses in 2017, also witnessed an average 7-8% drop in voting. The polling was peaceful overall, barring a couple of incidents where the tempers of candidates were frayed. In Ribda village of Gondal, which had turned into a fortress over fears of violence, son of BJP leader Aniruddhsinh Jadeja, alleged bogus voting.
Enthusiasm to use their democratic right was visible among centenarians, the physically challenged, the blind, newlywed couples and young first-time voters. There were people who were recovering from fractures and other injuries who prioritized polling over their pain.
In Surat, where six out of the total 12 seats have a significant Patidar population, the voting was a tad less compared to the previous election. Aam Aadmi Party had made inroads in the diamond city during the civic polls held last year.
Harsh Sanghvi, junior home minister and Majura seat candidate in Surat city, said," "Considering the number of marriages and it being a working day, the voter turnaround has been good. People came out in large numbers to endorse the development agenda pursued by the BJP."
State Congress president, Jagdish Thakor, said, "'BJP was frustrated before elections also as they did everything to stop our campaign and did not even allow the flights of our leaders to park. We have largely stopped BJP from misusing government machinery and their resources for bogus voting or influence voters. We are comfortably winning over 50% seats in the first phase and confident of securing 125 seats after the second phase."