Gujarat polls: Over 60% turnout recorded in Phase 1

Gandhinagar, Dec 2

A voter turnout of 60.48 per cent was recorded in the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections, which covered 89 constituencies of Saurashtra-Kutch and the south Gujarat region. This was 8 per cent less compared to the 2017 assembly elections.

Final figures are likely to be declared by the Election Commission on Friday.

The highest 73.02 per cent turnout was recorded in the Narmada district, while the lowest, 53.84 per cent, was in the Porbandar district.

According to Election Commission's data, till 11 p.m., approximately 72.32 per cent of voters voted in Tapi district, Morbi (67.65 per cent), Navsari (66.62 per cent), Valsad (65.29 per cent), Dangs (64.84 per cent) and Bharuch (63.08 per cent).

In urban constituencies like Karanj, voting was just 49.53 per cent, Choryasi (54.40 per cent), Surat North (55.32 per cent), and Udhana (55.69 per cent). Whereas in rural areas, turnout in Mahuva of Bhavnagar district was 60.45 per cent, in Amreli's Rajula constituency, it was 63.30 per cent, Dhrangadhra of Surendranagar district; it was 66.77 per cent.

Compared with previous elections' turnout, in the Mandvi seat of Kutch district voting percentage has dropped by 19 per cent, and in Surat's Mangrol seat, it has fallen by 17 per cent.

People in certain places also boycotted voting. In Samot village of Narmada district, 1000 voters were listed, but not a single voter turned up to vote; in Gir Somnath district's Pipalva village, out of a total of 1700 voters, till 4 p.m., only 40 voters reached the polling booth to exercise their franchise.

--IANS