Gujarat First Phase Polls indicate Victory for Narendra Modi

The first phase of 2012 Assembly Polls in Gujarat have indicated a massive Victory for the incumbent Chief Minister Narendra Modi lead BJP Government.

An unprecedented 68 percent of eligible voters turned up for voting, the actual numbers being over 14 Millions. Even Election Commission called this massive voter turnout in the first phase as “historic”.

“The polling was totally peaceful and historic,” Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi told reporters.

Bharatdas Darshandas, 55, once again became the privileged voter  by casting his vote at a booth set up solely for him deep in the Gir forest.

Darshandas has been living in Banej village in the Una assembly constituency in Junagadh district for the past one decade and has voted in the 2007 assembly polls and 2009 general elections.

An estimated 68 percent of the 18-million people eligible to vote in the first phase cast their ballots between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. in 87 of the 182 assembly constituencies in the state.

It was the highest voting percentage since 2002 when 61.54 percent of the electorate had voted. This percentage slid to 59.77 in 2007.

Zutshi attributed greater confidence-building and more enrolment of people for the high voter turnout.

Though voting was peaceful, Zutshi said that in at least two districts — Junagadh and Surendranagar — there were instances of poll boycott.

He also said that the commission had seized Rs.2.18 crore of undeclared money from candidates.

There were also 150 cases of paid news, of which 89 had been served notices, he said.

There would also be repolling at some places due to a technical error, he said.

“The figures from the mock polls conducted on some EVMs (electronic voting machines) were not erased,” said Zutshi.

(With Inputs from IANS)