Ahmedabad: Over 62.34 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the elections to Gujarat's 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats that were held in a largely peaceful manner on Sunday, barring an incident of booth capturing and reports of the clash as well as snags in EVMs at some places, officials said.
As per the provisional figures, voter turnout of 54.95 per cent across 81 municipalities, 62.41 per cent in 31 district panchayats, and 63.42 per cent in 231 taluka panchayat was recorded, the State Election Commission (SEC) said.
The average voting percentage across all these local bodies together was around 60.26 per cent, it said.
The highest turnout was recorded in Vyara of Tapi District with nearly 70 percent and the lowest was registered in Gandhidham of Kutch district with nearly 40 percent.
Over 60% voter turnout recorded in Gujarat local bodies elections There was an attempt to capture a booth at Ghodiya village in Jhalod taluka of Dahod district after three persons forced their way inside and damaged two EVMs kept there. Polling was stopped after the incident that took place around 2 pm, police said.
The election staff collected the damaged EVMs and said they would try to retrieve the stored data, and a decision on whether to conduct re-election will be taken by the Election Commission.
Police said that one of the three persons was held while two others managed to escape, and attempts were on to nab them.
Reports of EVM glitches in Gujarat local polls In another incident, some persons were injured after two groups supporting rival candidates clashed and hurled stones at each other near a polling booth in Viramgam taluka of Ahmedabad district.
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Police said they brought the situation under control and rounded up a few people in this connection. Further investigation is underway, an official said, adding that polling was not affected due to the incident.
A minor clash also broke out near a booth in Vyara municipality of Tapi district in south Gujarat, with groups representing a BJP and an independent candidate coming face to face. However, the situation was soon brought under control, police said.
Clashes between political groups in polls Clashes were also reported between members of two political parties Singvad and Jhalod talukas of Dahod district.
There were also a few instances of villagers boycotting voting.
In some villages in the tribal-dominated districts of Panchmahal and Chhota Udepur, people decided to stay away from the electoral process to mark their protest against "lack of development" in their region.
A technical snag was reported in an EVM at a polling booth in Bhavnagar.
Voting began at 7 am and ended at 6 pm. Several ministers in the BJP government, including Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and Members of Parliament (MPs) voted across different booths in Gujarat.
Patel cast his vote at his native Kadi municipality of Mehsana district along with his family members.
Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj and Agriculture Parshottam Rupala and BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Jugalji Thakor were among the leaders who cast their votes in the early hours.
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Opposition leader Paresh Dhanani reached the polling station in Amreli on a bicycle carrying a sack of compost. Paresh Dhanani had protested against the price hike while going to the polls and he had gone to the polls in a different way. Paresh Dhanani rode out on a bicycle carrying manure in protest of the continuous rise in prices.
A couple, scheduled to get married later in the day, arrived at a booth in Gondal taluka of Rajkot to exercise their franchise in the initial hours of voting and said they
did not want to miss out on their democratic duty. A newly-wed couple was also seen in a queue at a polling booth in Dehgam taluka of Gandhinagar. First-time voters were welcomed with flowers in Buhari village of Tapi district.
112-year-old and 75-year-old senior citizens were also seen casting their votes in Jamnagar and Surat respectively. 75-year-old Bhikhiben Nayka played the role of mother of Hindi film actress Nagris in iconic movie 'Mother India'.
Senior citizen casting her vote in Gujarat At least 13 pregnant ladies were ferried by ambulances to cast their vote at various places in the Anand district. Many Corona patients casted their vote wearing PPE kit in the last hour specially dedicated from 5 am to 6 pm.
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Congress leader Hardik Patel also voted at a booth at Viramgam in the Ahmedabad district.
As per the SEC, there are a total of 8,474 seats across 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats in Gujarat, out of which candidates on 237 seats remain unopposed, and no form was filled for two seats in taluka panchayat.
Thus, elections were held on a total of 8,235 seats, it said. For 8,235 seats, the BJP had fielded 8,161 candidates, Congress 7,778, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 2,090, among others, said the SEC.
However, elections were boycotted in Shaktipura Vasahat 2 of Kalol taluka of Panchmahal after locals staged a protest claiming that they are not getting benefits of the government schemes.
People of Narogal village in Umargam taluka of Valsad boycotted the polls as a disc Jockey was allegedly assaulted by few miscreants few days ago.
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Apart from the traditional rivals- BJP and Congress-, AAP and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM were also in the fray for local body polls in Gujarat this time.
By-elections were also held for two seats in taluka panchayats and 24 seats in municipalities. Votes for the polls will be counted on March 2.
In the February 21 elections, the BJP won with a majority across all the six municipal corporations.
There are a total 3.04 crore registered voters in the second phase election.
Over 44,000 policemen, including State Reserve Police and 12 companies of CAPF, along with 54,000 home guards have been deployed to ensure incident-free voting.
Over 60% voter turnout recorded in Gujarat local bodies elections With PTI inputs
