By IANS
Ahmedabad : The polling for the first phase of the crucial Gujarat assembly elections, which concluded Tuesday evening, was marked by an average voter turnout.
The voting in 87 constituencies in 14 districts of Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat started note a very sluggish note thanks to a cold morning but picked up in the afternoon.
The polling was largely peaceful as 580 companies of paramilitary forces, each consisting of 100 personnel, kept a watchful eye.
Although the official figures on the voter turnout were yet to be disclosed, sources estimated that the overall polling did not exceed 50 percent and it was particularly low in urban areas.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister Keshubhai Patel, leading a dissidence campaign against Chief Minister Narendra Modi, decided not to cast his vote and expressed his unhappiness at being sidelines by the party.
Saurashtra has been the hub of BJP dissidents and is expected to make things difficult for the party as five rebels contested the elections on Congress ticket.
Another dissident contested as Congress candidate in south Gujarat.
The BJP’s campaign oscillated between the issues of development and terrorism while the Congress focused on rubbishing Modi’s claims of economic progress.
The Congress has said there is a sense of insecurity among the people of the state and the law and order situation is deteriorating day by day.
Apart from the larger issues, caste equations are expected to play a major role in the outcome of the elections in the first phase.
There were 668 candidates in the fray for the first-round elections, in which 17.80 million people were eligible to vote.
The second phase of polling will be held in north and central Gujarat Dec 16. The counting of votes will take place Dec 23.