Fighting polls on two seats: Supreme Court issues notice to Centre and Election Commission

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre and the Election Commission over a plea seeking cancellation of candidates contesting from more than one constituency.

Asking for the opinion of the Attorney General KK Venugopal, the apex court has instructed the petitioner to hand over a copy of the petition to him.

The petition, submitted by BJP leader Ashwani Upadhyay, demanded a revision in the Representation of the People Act.

In 2014, veteran politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi had contested from two seats - Vadodara and Varanasi.

With the end of the first phase of polling in Gujarat Assembly elections 2017, over 68 percent turnout was recorded for 89 Assembly seats on Saturday.

The main contenders in the Gujarat polls are the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is making a bid for a fifth term and the Congress which is attempting an electoral revival.

The second phase of the elections has been scheduled on December 14. The second phase of voting for the high-stakes election will be held for the remaining 93 seats. 

On Saturday, a total of 977 candidates were in the fray and around 2.12 crore voters were expected to exercise their franchise in the first phase.

Gujarat has 182 assembly constituencies. The counting of votes will take place on December 18.