Live Blog: Gujarat Assembly Polls 2017

The state of Gujarat is all set to go on the first phase of voting on 9 December 2017.  The fight for power will be conducted in 89 assembly seats, amongst 977 candidates, before over 2 lakh registered voters. With the Patidar community and the Dalits playing an important this time, the election is an important one for both the BJP and the Congress. For the BJP, who has been ruling the state for two decades, this will the fifth time for them establish their power, while the chance for Congress to make the cut. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's Rajkot (West), is one of the constituencies that will go into elections, along with 'kingmaker' seats like Surat and Valsad. Stay tuned for live updates:

6:50 pm

68% tentative voter turnout in 1st phase of elections

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TILL 5 PM AVERAGE VOTING


MORBI : 75

VALSAD : 70

NARMDA : 75

DAWRKA 55 %,

PORBANDAR 62 %,

TAPI 70 %

BOTAD 73 %,

NAVSARI 76 %,

AMRELI 65 %

KAUTCH 66.32 %,

SURENDRANAGAR 65 %,

DANG  72 %

BHARUCH 64 %,

JAMNAGAR 65 %,

JUNAGADH 58 %

JAMNAGAR 65 %,

JUNAGADH 58 %

RAJKOT 62 %,

SURAT 70 %,

BHAVNAGAR 65 %

KUTCH 66.32

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5:50 pm

Some voters in polling booth 4 said that their votes are going to some other candidate.
Polling officer has assured that it will be tested.

(Source: ANI)
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5:30 pm

60.16% voter turnout till 4 pm.

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4:45 pm

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4:30 pm

55% voter turnout till 3pm, voting allowed till 5pm for people with token. (News18)

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4:20 pm

No EVM issues reported till now. Some EVMs replaced due to errors and were updated with VVPAT, which allows people to verify their vote for 7 seconds: Yogesh Thakkar, Deputy District Electoral Officer. (News18)

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4:00 pm

#KnowYourNeta: The Bhavnagar (West) is being contested between BJP state chief Jitu Vaghani with INC's candidate Dilipsihn Gohil.

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3:50 pm

40.47% voter turnout till 2 pm. 

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3:00 pm

Election Commission (EC) team reaches Porbandar after reports surface of EVMs being connected via blue tooth. (News18)

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2:50 pm

Ghogha, in Bhavnagar was in news when PM Modi inaugrated the 'Ro-Ro' ferry services to Dahej on October 23. The coastal town, however struggles with the problem of water regularity, as it receives it only once in a month. A majority Muslim populated region, the people of Ghogha wonder if they have been discriminated against. (Firstpost)

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2:00 pm

#KnowYourNeta: The 'Kingmaker's Seat' Rajkot West in Rajkot district is CM Vijay Rupani's bastion. Congress 'most expensive' candidate, Indranil Rajguru, knowh for his aggressive image is hoping to be the next CM

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1:45 pm

116-year-old Chandravadiya Ajiben Sidabhai, the oldest voter in the Gujarat elections, casted her vote from Rajkot district. Born in 1891, according to her voting ID, Ajiben says she remembers everything before the Independence.

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1:20 pm

The farmers of Amreli have been enraged at the BJP-led state government over the failing crop prices and the GST regime. The district, that is largely an agricultural one, has seen a stark drop in prices, while the cost of production has tripled. Cotton, a common crop in the region, was sold at Rs 1200 per kg in 2014, whereas it is sold at Rs 850-900 now. The farmers, who had to take up labour work after the 2016 drought are particularly upset with PM Narendra Modi, because as the Chief Minister he had urged then Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh  to increase the price rate to Rs 1500 per kg.

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1:00 pm

#KnowYourNeta: The Bhuj Andar seat from Kachcha district, is a communally sensitive one, with the Muslim population in majority.

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12:45 pm

According to media reports, 48% of the voters population are made up of women. The issue of subsidies for women being an important feature in the manifestos of both the BJP and the Congress party.

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12:30 pm

Region wise voting percentage till 12 pm. Surat, with 16 seats under its fray had recorded the maximum number of voting as of now. (Firstpost)

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12:00 pm

#KnowYourNeta: In Surat's biggest business region, the Patidar community plays a crucial role. Both the leaders have the favor of the community. 

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11:50 am

Patidars members protest in Junagadh, as BJP's Reshma Patel, who was the former aide of Hardik Patel arrives to cast her vote.

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11:30 am

Voting turnout 20.9% till 11 am. Highest number of votes are coming from Surat, Botad, Tapi and Rajkot.

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11:10 am

#KnowYourNeta: A former, rebel Congress leader fights a current Congress leader in Jamnagar (Rural).

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11:00 am

Faulty EVMs machines in Jetpur, Porbander and Surat are being replaced.

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10:54am

North Indians in Surat constituency talk about state government being indifferent to them. (Firstpost)

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10:45 am

Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Ahmed Patel casts his vote in Bharuch's Ankleshwar, says "Congress will win more than 110 seats."

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10:30 am

Congress' Indranil Rajguru, has been declared the 'richest' candidate by ADR. Rajguru is contesting the election against CM Vijay Rupani from Rajkot (W). The BJP has given ticket to 142 'crorepati' candidates, the Congress to 127, NCP to 17, AAP to 13 and the BSP to 5. (News18)

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10:10 am

8.5 percent voter turn out by 9 am (News18)

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10:00 am

#KnowYourNeta: Since time, a trend in Valsad remains that the one who wins the seat, goes on to win the state elections. Bharatbhai had won the 2014 elections, will Tandel make the cut this time?

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9:50 am

Calling voting the soul of democracy, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi urged first time voters to exercise their right, and come out in large number. "मतदाताओं की भागीदारी लोकतंत्र की आत्मा होती है। गुजरात चुनाव में पहली बार वोट डाल रहे युवा साथियों का बहुत स्वागत और अभिनन्दन। गुजरात की जनता से अपील है कि भारी संख्या में मतदान कर लोकतंत्र के इस पर्व को सफल बनाएं।" (Twitter)

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9:30 am

Technical glitches in EVM machines at Porbander constituency has halted the voting process. (BBC Gujarati)

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9:00 am

Districts that are contesting elections: Kachcha, Surendranagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbander, junagarh, Gir Somnath, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Botad, Narmada, Bharuch, Surat, Tapi, Dangs, Navsari and Valsad.

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8:56 am:

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's daughter Radhika Rupani at Rajkot (West) polling booth. (Firstpost)

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8:30 am

Visuals of voter from Rajkot (West). Among the 977 candidates contesting the elections, 57 of them are women. (Firstpost)

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8:10 am

"Urge people to come out and vote in large numbers": Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani (News18)

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8:00 am

Voting for first phase of polls begins in 89 assembly seats. (ANI Twitter)

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7:35 am

Jamnagar (Rural) is the assembly seat with the most number of candidates contesting, at 27. Jhagadia and Gandevi have a minimum of 3 candidates. (News18)

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7:20 am

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Phase 1 of Gujarat polls begin. Urging all those voting today to turnout in record numbers and vote. I particularly call upon youngsters to exercise their franchise." (News18)

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BJP releases manifesto for Gujarat polls 24 hours before 1st phase

After much delay, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday released its manifesto for the Gujarat elections with less than 24 hours to go for the first phase of polls. Post the manifesto release, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who was flanked by senior leaders of the party has claimed that Gujarat is the only state that has double-digit growth rate of 10 per cent. The party also clarified that the manifesto does not violate the model code of conduct since it doesn't display photograph of any candidates that are contesting today. Voting for phase one of the 89 assembly constituencies will be held on December 9. The second phase of voting will be held on December 14.

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