Ahmedabad: The first phase of Gujarat polls is being held today in which 89 seats of Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions with 977 candidates are in the fray. Saurashtra has 48 seats, of which the BJP won 34 in 2012. All the seats will vote in the first phase on December 9. Prominent candidates testing themselves in the Saturday battle include Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who is contesting from Rajkot (West), and Congress' Shaktisinh Gohil (Mandvi) and Paresh Dhanani (Amreli). Around 2.12 crore voters will be exercising their franchise. The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday released its election manifesto, called the 'sankalp patra' (vision document) for Gujarat. Here are LIVE UPDATES: Voting percentage till 4pm: TAPI: 57% NAVSARI: 53% PORBANADAR: 40% DANG: 51.39% MORBI: 52.26% BHARUCH: 49.11% GIR SOMNATH: 49.29% RAJKOT: 46% DWARKA: 41.65% VALSAD: 63%
  • A team of Election Commission reaches polling booth in Thakkar Plot, Porbandar after complaints of EVM being connected to Bluetooth. (PIC/ANI)
 
  • 21.09% polling recorded till 12 pm
  • 18 % voting till 11 am
PM Modi is lying, I never called Indian Army "rapists": Congress leader Salman Nizami to ABP News
  • 10% voting till 10 am in first phase.
  • We are confident of victory looking at the response here. I don't want to remind the kind of language used against Sonia Gandhiji and other Congressmen by Modiji and : Ahmed Patel, Congress veteran.
Cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara casts his vote in Rajkot's Ravi Vidayalaya booth. (Pictures below)
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  • Vijay Rupani is contesting against Congress’ Indranil Rajyaguru from Rajkot-West seat
  • CM Vijay Rupani casts his vote in Rajkot
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  • We are going to win 150 plus seats under the leadership of PM Modi: Jitu Vaghani, BJP Gujarat Chief and candidate from Bhavnagar West
  • BJP Gujarat Chief Jitubhai Vaghani casts his vote in Bhavnagar, says-"A new history will be created."
  • People should come out in large numbers to vote. We are very confident, no question of any challenge: Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani
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  • Voting begins
  • "Phase 1 of Gujarat polls begin. Urging all those voting today to turnout in record numbers and vote. I particularly call upon youngsters to exercise their franchise," tweeted Modi.
  • Voting for first phase of
Koli factor The BJP is likely to suffer significant losses with the economically and socially heavyweight Patidars turning against it, but the party can hope to offset this to an extent by courting the OBCs. Keeping this in mind, the BJP has fielded a large number of Kolis in Saurashtra. The party played the caste card well in advance by fielding Ram Nath Kovind, a Koli, in the presidential polls. The Kolis are, however, listed as Dalits in Uttar Pradesh. While Modi addressed about 15 rallies, Gandhi spent more than seven days in Saurashtra and south Gujarat, addressing a number of meetings. The second phase of the high-stakes election -- with the BJP making a bid for a fifth term and the Congress attempting an electoral revival -- will be held on December 14. Sparring between the two parties while canvassing for the polls, viewed as a prestige battle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a litmus test for the leadership of soon-to-be Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, continued till the very end. ‘Neech’ controversy  On Thursday, the Congress suspended its leader Mani Shankar Aiyar for referring to Modi as a "neech kism ka aadmi" (vile sort of man), triggering a controversy just ahead of the election. The campaign shaped up as a duel between Modi and Gandhi, and often turned personal. The poll narrative kept changing with issues such as the Ayodhya title suit, Gandhi's imminent elevation as Congress president and his visits to temples being raised by BJP leaders. BJP president Amit Shah, the chief poll strategist of the saffron party, also addressed a number of rallies, mainly targeting the Congress and Gandhi. The BJP drafted in Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, besides Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The Congress fielded former prime minister Manmohan Singh and prominent leaders such as P Chidambaram, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot to canvass for votes. The high voltage campaign for the first phase ended Thursday evening. The second phase comprises 93 seats in north and central Gujarat. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18.