Modi, Shah to cast votes in Gujarat in third phase of polling

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will exercise his franchise in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, in the third phase of polling to the Lok Sabha.

Modi will cast his vote at a polling booth set up at Nishan Vidyalaya in Ranip area of Ahmedabad, a part of Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency, from where BJP chief Amit Shah is the party candidate.

On Monday, the Ahmedabad District Collector, Vikrant Pandey, inspected the polling booth and supervised security arrangements before the Prime Minister’s vist in this densely populated neighbourhood.

Walk down memory lane

In 2014, as the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, Modi had cast his vote at the same location amid fanfare. The former deputy Prime Minister and veteran BJP leader, Lal Krishna Advani, was the BJP candidate from the constituency then. The then chief minister of Gujarat, Modi had created a spectacle with a reciprocal gesture to walk up to the celebrating crowd after casting his vote. He had stoked controversy by clicking a selfie with the party symbol - 'lotus' - and his 'inked' finger outside the booth.

Briefing the media outside the polling booth, Modi had sounded the collapse of ‘Maa-bete ki sarkar’ (mother-son government), hinting at the fall of the Congress-led UPA government and laying the "foundation for a new era".

As against seven rallies that he has addressed in Gujarat over the past one month, in 2014, Modi had allocated just 18 hours in two days for campaigning in the state.

Shah, Jaitley will also vote in Gujarat

Apart from the Prime Minister, BJP president and candidate for the Gandhinagar constituency, Amit Shah will also cast his vote from Naranpura area in Ahmedabad. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who represents the BJP from Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha, will cast his vote at a booth on SG Highway in the western part of Ahmedabad.

Among other top names, Anandiben Patel, the Governor of Madhya Pradesh, and Vajubhai Vala, the Governor of Karnataka, will also cast their votes at their respective booths. Senior Congress leader, Ahmed Patel, will exercise his franchise at a polling booth in Bharuch constituency.

Rs 545 cr worth of seizures by EC

According to S. Murali Krishna, Chief Electoral Officer - Gujarat, seizures worth Rs 545 crore have been made so far to ensure free and fair elections in the state. As on April 20, 130.73 kg of contraband drugs worth Rs 524 crore, 3.9 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 11.13 crore and Rs 7.58 crore in cash had been seized. Over 67,417 non-bailable warrants had been issued since the imposition of the model code of conduct. The state had registered 186 complaints of the violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Of the total electorate of 4.51 crore, over 10 lakh voters are in the age-group of 18-19 years. There are about 1.68 lakh disabled voters. A total 371 candidates are contesting for 26 Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat. The counting of votes will be held at 28 places across the State.

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