Gandhinagar: Over 58 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 p.m. on Monday in the polling for the second phase of the Gujarat assembly elections, officials said.
Citing the Election Commission data, officials said 58.60 per cent turnout was witnessed across the state in the election held for 93 Assembly seats in 14 districts of Gujarat.
Since there were long queues at 5 p.m. in many booths, the final voting percentage is likely to be around 70, officials estimated.
The highest voting turnout was from Sabarkantha district -- 65.84 per cent while the lowest -- 53.57 per cent, was reported from Ahmedabad.
At some places, heated arguments have taken place between BJP and Congress workers.
In Panchmahal district, an assault took place on Congress candidate Prabhatsinh Chauhan in Godali village. His car was attacked by a group of people.
Also, a minor scuffle took place between the Congress and the BJP workers in Anklav constituency.
The voters in four villages of Gujarat's Mehsana district said they were boycotting the elections as no development had taken place in their areas.
The Becharaji Taluka Bariyaf village and Kheralu Taluka's three villages on Monday claimed that their issues have remained unresolved for decades and hence they were not participating in the voting exercise.
Till 1 p.m. not a single vote was cast in these four villages.
Bariyaf Village sarpanch Raju Patel told the local media:
"For decades around half-a-dozen issues were pending, even after several reminders and personal requests nothing has been done. For example, in three decades, the Water Resources Department has certified that underground water was not drinkable, old borewells were sealed but new borewells were not developed. "The primary school was developed in 1968, it needs regularisation and repairs. Since three terms, turn by turn each sarpanch has taken up matters with the respective authorities, but there is no result, Narmada water has not reached the village."
"For decades around half-a-dozen issues were pending, even after several reminders and personal requests nothing has been done. For example, in three decades, the Water Resources Department has certified that underground water was not drinkable, old borewells were sealed but new borewells were not developed.
"The primary school was developed in 1968, it needs regularisation and repairs. Since three terms, turn by turn each sarpanch has taken up matters with the respective authorities, but there is no result, Narmada water has not reached the village."
Patel on behalf of 1,000 villagers has stated that villagers have boycotted the voting and staged protests.
"We will only vote if the Mehsana district collector promises in writing to resolve the pending issues," he said
In Kheralu Taluka, Varethna, Dalisana, and Davol villagers too have boycott voting. Their demand was to revive the Rupen river, and fill village lakes with Narmada or other voters.
A Border Security Force (BSF) Jawan Chhotusinh Vaghela, whose marriage was scheduled on Monday, reached the polling booth at the Duva village in Tharad constituency to cast his vote before heading to the wedding venue.
Speaking to local media, Vaghela said:
"I am posted in West Bengal but I am on leave, as my marriage is scheduled today. But before the Baarat procession starts, I and my family members decided to cast our votes. I feel that as I am protecting the country's borders, it is my duty to protect democracy also and so I gave priority to voting."
Meanwhile, in the Shilaj area of Ahmedabad city, 93-year-old Amrutaba was enthusiastic to vote. And so was 101-year-old Samuben Prajapti in Vadaj. Several aged persons reached the polling booths either in wheelchair or with support of family members.
Muslims in Undhela village of Kheda district in Gujarat today boycotted the Gujarat Assembly elections. This is the village where the police were in October seen flogging Muslim men tied to a pole for allegedly throwing stones at a Navratri garba event.
All Muslims in the village till filing this report boycotted the election, with just half an hour to go for voting to end.
Some Muslim men were arrested, tied to a pole, and flogged with canes by police personnel in the Kheda district. Crowds were seen cheering as officers watched plain-clothes cops hit the men.
The men were reportedly asked to "apologise to the public", and the police inspector in charge of the area was present too.
An inquiry committee was set up after the flogging incident, but no report has been released yet.
The first phase of polling was held on December 1.
The counting of votes will be done and results would be announced on December 8.
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