Gujarat Assembly Elections: Less than 35% turnout recorded till 1pm

Voting for the first phase of Gujarat elections is underway in 19 districts in the Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of the state, with 34.48% turnout recorded till 1 pm. Eighty-nine out of 182 seats in Gujarat will have their fates sealed on Thursday as the first phase voting to elect the 15th state Legislative Assembly commenced. The polling began at 8am in 89 constituencies spread across 19 districts of Kutch, Saurashtra, and South Gujarat, and will conclude at 5pm.

Some key constituencies in the first phase include Surat, Porbandar, Khambhalia, Rajkot, Jamnagar North, and Morbi - the site of the bridge collapse incident that claimed the lives of over 140 people in October.As many as 788 candidates from 39 parties are in the fray for this phase and around 23.9 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise. While the Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to safeguard its bastion from the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party is looking to make gains in its maiden outing.