PM Modi urges record turnout in Gujarat, says 'enrich festival of democracy'

NEW DELHI: As the last phase of polling for the Gujarat assembly elections is about to begin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took to Twitter urging people to cast their votes in record numbers.

"Today is Phase 2 of the Gujarat elections. I request all those voting today to vote in record numbers and enrich this festival of democracy," he tweeted.

Today is Phase 2 of the Gujarat elections. I request all those voting today to vote in record numbers and enrich this festival of democracy. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 14, 2017

The second phase of elections in Gujarat will see polling for 93 Assembly constituencies across 14 districts in northern and central regions of the state.

A host of VVIPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah will cast their vote. A total of 851 candidates are in the fray for the second phase, where 2.22 crore people are eligible to vote. 

Elections will be held in Banaskantha, Patan, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Aravalli, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Chhota Udepur districts from 8 am to 5 pm. A total of 25,575 polling booths have been set up in 14,523 places.

PM Modi will be casting his vote at Nishan Vidyalaya in Ranip area of Ahmedabad, while Shah will cast his vote from his former state Assembly constituency, Naranpura. Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley will cast his vote from Vejalpur region of Ahmedabad.

The Gujarat contest is being seen as a prestige battle for PM Modi in his home state, where a reinvigorated Congress has sewed up a broad social coalition with prominent Patidar, OBC and Dalit leaders in its bid to unseat the BJP in power for over two decades.

The first phase of voting for the 182-member Assembly was held on December 9 and covered 89 seats. The counting of votes will be on December 18. 

In the 2012 Gujarat Assembly polls, the BJP had won 115 seats, while the Congress had bagged 61.