LS polls: EC puts Gujarat voter turnout at 59.51%, says final figure likely to be more

Gujarat has recorded an estimated voter turnout of 59.51 per cent in the elections to 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state, as per the data shared by the Election Commission of India on Wednesday.

The final figure would be available by evening after the addition of postal ballot data, an official said.

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This time, the voter turnout is 4.6 per cent less compared to the 2019 general polls in the state.

In 2019, the state registered a voter turnout of 64.11 per cent in the polls for the 26 Lok Sabha seats.

Voting was held in 25 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat on Tuesday as the BJP recently bagged the Surat Lok Sabha seat uncontested.

"Gujarat has recorded an estimated voter turnout of 59.51 per cent," said a statement by the EC.

According to Gujarat's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Bharathi, the final voter turnout figures would be available by evening after the addition of postal ballot data.

"Polling station-wise data is now being fed into the system and postal ballots are yet to be counted. So, there will be a slight increase in the final figure, but not much. This 59.51 per cent turnout is almost final," said Bharathi.

The tribal-reserved Valsad constituency in south Gujarat recorded the highest turnout of 72.24 per cent, while the Amreli seat in the Saurashtra region saw the lowest turnout of 49.44 per cent, as per the latest EC data.

Valsad was also in the top spot in 2019, with an impressive turnout of 75.22 per cent.

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It is the only seat where more than 70 per cent voters turned up to exercise their franchise on Tuesday, while Amreli is the only seat with below 50 per cent turnout.

Bharuch and Banaskantha seats, which witnessed a close battle between the BJP and the opposition INDIA alliance, recorded 68.75 per cent and 68.55 per cent polling, respectively.

Except for the Valsad seat, voter turnout in three other ST-reserved seats - Chhota Udaipur, Dahod, and Bardoli - saw a significant drop this time compared to the previous election.

As against 73.44 per cent voter turnout in 2019, Chhota Udaipur this time recorded 67.78 per cent voting, a drop of 5.66 per cent.

Dahod this time witnessed a voter turnout of 58.66 per cent compared to 66.18 per cent in 2019, a drop of 7.52 per cent.

Bardoli seat recorded a drop of 8.99 per cent, as the voter turnout this time was 64.59 per cent compared to 73.58 per cent in 2019.

Voting was also held on Tuesday for bypolls in five assembly seats in the state.

The five assembly segments - Vijapur, Porbandar, Manavadar, Khambhat, and Vaghodia - recorded a voter turnout of 62.37 per cent, as per the EC data.

The five seats fell vacant after the resignation of sitting MLAs.

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