By IANS,
Ahmedabad : Voting ended peacefully Thursday in the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections with no untoward incident being reported, officials said.
Millions voted through the day in 87 of the 182 assembly constituencies in the state. The second phase will be held on Dec 17 and all votes of both phases counted Dec 20.
The elections see Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has ruled the state since 2001, making another bid for power against a disparate opposition.
By 3 p.m., an estimated 53 percent of the 18 million eligible to vote in the first phase of polling had exercised their franchise.
The final figures will be available later, an official in the Gujarat Election Commission told IANS.