|
Millions vote in first phase of Gujarat
elections
Thursday December 13, 2012 05:15:53 PM,
IANS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ahmedabad: Millions
voted across Gujarat Thursday in elections that have pitted Chief
Minister Narendra Modi, who has ruled the state since 2001,
against a disparate opposition.
An estimated 53 percent of the 18 million eligible to vote in the
first phase of polling had exercised their franchise by 3 p.m. in
87 of the 182 assembly constituencies, officials said.
Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have said
they will win but the election is widely seen as a virtual
referendum on Modi's 11 years of controversial rule.
The third major player is the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) of
former chief minister Keshubhai Patel, who parted ways with the
BJP after giving up the chief minister's chair in October 2001.
The BJP has fielded candidates in all 87 seats, the Congress in
84, GPP IN 83 and the Bahujan Samaj Party in 79.
Queues began forming outside many polling booths even as balloting
started at 8 a.m. Within three hours, 18 percent had voted. The
numbers kept rising amid pleasant weather.
Fifty-four of the 87 constituencies voting Thursday lie in
Saurashtra, Keshubhai Patel's known stronghold. But BJP
strategists say the Keshubhai factor will not affect them majorly.
There are a total of 846 candidates in the fray, including 46
women.
Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia
Gandhi, said while casting his ballot that the heavy polling
"shows how much dissatisfaction is there among the people (against
Modi)".
Amid media glare, Keshubhai Patel voted in Rajkot. Gujarat
Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia voted in Porbandar.
After casting his ballot, BJP state leader R.C. Faldu thundered:
"We will win with a big majority."
Election Commission officials said polling proceeded peacefully in
44,579 balloting centres. As many as 17,029 of these were dubbed
"critical" -- official euphemism to mean they are prone to
violence.
Of an estimated 38 million voters, 19.9 million are male and 18.1
million are female.
The largest constituency by area is Abdasa (6,278 sq km) and the
largest constituency by population is Kamrej (304,621 voters).
At Maninagar in Ahmedabad, Modi is pitted against suspended
officer Sanjiv Bhatt's wife Shweta.
In 1998, 59.30 percent voted in the assembly elections. This rose
to 61.54 percent in 2002 and slid to 59.77 percent in 2007.
A possible victory for the BJP will be widely seen as a personal
triumph for Modi, who towers over the party in Gujarat.
And with the next Lok Sabha election due in 2014, it could propel
him to play a larger national role for the BJP.
If the BJP loses, the claims of Modi's political invincibility by
his admirers would be punctured.
|
|
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
I |
|
|
|
|
More Headlines |
|
New smartphone app can help you detect allergen |
|
Polling begins in Gujarat |
|
Ex-Bosnian Serb commander gets life term for Muslim massacre |
|
UAE to lead Arab Parliament |
|
Indians in Gulf:
UAE, Saudi Arabia have the maximum |
|
Modi's letter on
Sir Creek: PMO rubbishes 'untrue' claims |
|
India-Pakistan T20 tickets to be sold online |
|
With Irfan Pathan, Modi woos youth,
minorities before polls |
|
France teacher asks students to write
suicide note, suspended |
|
SC moved for stringent ban on tobacco items |
|
'Gujarat
textbooks have anti-Muslim contents, portray Hitler as hero' |
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 Mayawati casts aspersions on Hamid Ansari,
Rajya Sabha stunned
Under rules and conventions, members are not
allowed to cast aspersions on the chair. The chairman »
Congress does balancing act over job quota
bill
Will
not allow promotion quota bill to be passed, says SP
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 Gujarat
textbooks have anti-Muslim contents, portray Hitler as hero
Says Asghar Ali
Engineer; Bureaucracy and security forces are infiltrated by RSS,
alleges Ram Puniyani
From questioning the funeral with state honour of Shiv Sena
leade
»
|
|
With Irfan Pathan, Modi woos youth,
minorities before polls
Cricketer Irfan Pathan Wednesday
shared the stage with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at an
election rally in Kheda, signalling the ruling BJP's desire to woo
the youths and the
»
LensOnNews survey gives BJP 122 seats in Gujarat polls
|
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
Minorities constitute
a meagre 81,056 in Indian paramilitary forces
A meagre 81,056 people from the minority communities that
constitute about 20% of the total population of the country serve
in India's paramilitary forces and the Intelligence Bureau,
official figures show. Muslims, Christians, Sikhs,
Buddhists, Jains and Parsees are notified as minorities, according
to the National Minority Commission. »
71,397 vacancies in paramilitary forces
|
|
Unfair to withhold student's degree for dues: Consumer court rules
"Such kind of practice is not fair," the National Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission said in a recent ruling in
connection with a case involving Sushith, a student pursuing an MD
degree »
|
|
Modi's letter on
Sir Creek: PMO rubbishes 'untrue' claims
A day
before the Gujarat assembly poll, Chief Minister Narendra Modi
Wednesday stirred a hornet's nest by writing to the Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh against handing over Sir Creek to Pakistan. In a
strong rebuttal, the »
|
|
 Sitar legend Ravi Shankar is dead
Sitar maestro and composer Pandit Ravi Shankar, described by
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "national treasure", has
died in a US hospital. He was 92. He had been admitted to the
Scripps
»
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
Tri Service Chiefs paying homage
at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate on the occasion of Navy Day in
New Delhi on December 04, 2012. |
|
|
|
Recommend the story to
your friends |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links