Gujarat Polls : 31% voter turnout till 12 pm

Ahmedabad : Voting for the first phase of the crucial Gujarat assembly polls began today on 89 seats of Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions. After a campaign that often turned vituperative, around 2.12 crore voters would be exercising their franchise in Modi’s home state to choose between the ruling BJP and the Congress.
A total of 977 candidates are in fray for the first phase polls. Prominent candidates for today’s battle include Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who is contesting from Rajkot (West), and Congress’ Shaktisinh Gohil (Mandvi) and Paresh Dhanani (Amreli).
Around 31 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 12 pm during polling on 89 seats of Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions in the first phase of the crucial Gujarat assembly polls. After the polling process began at 8 am, people could be seen stepping out of their homes despite cold weather and queuing up to exercise their franchise at the polling stations. According to officials, around 31 per cent voting has been recorded till 12 pm.(Agencies)