Modest turnout of 59.11% registered in the second phase of Gujarat Assembly elections
The Hindu
After low polling in the first phase, the Election Commission of India had appealed to voters to vote in large numbers but urban pockets saw substantially lower turnout
Modest turnout marked Gujarat’s second phase of voting in which 59.11 % average turnout was registered at 93 Assembly seats across the regions of north and central Gujarat on Monday.
An average 59.11% turnout was registered till 5 p.m. but this is likely to change after the final voting figures are updated from all polling booths across 14 districts of the State. In the first phase, an average 63.3% turnout was registered from 89 seats in Saurashtra and south Gujarat districts. The provisional figure released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the second phase at 5 p.m. is expected to rise further as collecting data from some polling stations takes time and the number does not include postal ballots.
In the 2017 Assembly polls, the turnout was 68.41 %.
After low polling in the first phase, the ECI had appealed to voters to come out and vote in large numbers to compensate for the low turnout in the previous phase but apparently the appeal did not have any impact as urban pockets saw substantially lower turnout in the final phase as well.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and others cast their ballot in Ahmedabad.
After the Prime Minister cast his vote in a polling booth in the Ranip area of Ahmedabad, the Gujarat Congress complained to the ECI over his “roadshow”. The Congress’ letter to the ECI read: “As per model code of conduct a road show or any other type of procession is not permissible on the polling day, The Prime Minister has completed a road show on his way to cast his vote. This is in gross contravention of the rules.” The Congress lodged over a dozen complaints and also accused the ECI of partisan approach in favour of the ruling party.
Gujarat’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kuldeep Arta told media that a report had been sought from the Election Officer in Ahmedabad but a roadshow had not been established as the “crowd was there on its own”.
The All-India level NEET examination was started a few years ago to counter complaints of corruption during the joint entrance examinations held at the State level. AIDSO had warned the authorities that the solution to the menace of corruption was not changing the examination system, but to investigate the corruption and punish the guilty.