68.70% voter turnout in Phase 2 of Gujarat assembly polls

Prominent candidates in second phase polling of Gujarat Assembly elections 2017 include Nitin Patel and OBC leader Alpesh Thakor.

Cast my vote for the 2017 Gujarat polls, PM Modi tweeted.

AHMEDABAD: The voting for the second and final phase of Assembly elections in Gujarat ended at 5 pm Thursday. The last phase saw 93 assembly seats spread across 14 districts in North and central Gujarat going to polls. The first phase of voting for the 182-member house, held on December 9, covered 89 seats. A total of 851 candidates are in the fray for the second phase, where 2.22 crore people are eligible to vote. The Gujarat contest is being seen as a prestige battle for 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 voting for second and final phase of Gujarat Assembly elections 2017 began at 8am on Thursday, in which 851 candidates, spread across 14 districts in north and central Gujarat, will test their luck. The voting would end at 5 pm, and in total 2 crore 22 lakh voters will exercise their constitutional right. BJP veterans like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah will also cast their votes in the second phase of polling. Here are live updates from second phase polling of Gujarat Assembly elections 2017

#ABPExitPoll 68.70% voter turnout in phase 2 of Gujarat assembly polls#GujaratRound2 #GujaratElection2017

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) December 14, 2017

• The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Gujarat, B.B. Swain said the Congress party's complaint alleging violation of the poll code by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "anticipatory" as it had been filed before the incident actually took place.

• Violence reported between two communities in Wakaner village of Savli district in Vadodara. Some shops and motorcycles were torched. CRPF jawans were rushed to control the situation.

PM @narendramodi displays inked finger after voting in Sabarmati #GujaratRound2 https://t.co/MR7GgWkPRE — ABP News (@abpnewstv) December 14, 2017

Allowing a roadshow of PM on voting day is a gross violation of code of conduct. It is an election campaign. What is the EC doing, asks former finance minister P @PChidambaram_IN #GujaratRound2 https://t.co/9vGr6iWrb3 — ABP News (@abpnewstv) December 14, 2017

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi casts his vote at Ranip, Sabarmati's booth number 115

On my way to cast my vote in Ahmedabad. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 14, 2017

• 10% voter turnout in first 2 hours
• Congress state chief Bharatsinh Solanki casts his vote in polling booth no.201 in Anand

• Nitin Patel casts his vote, appeals to vote for his party

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley casts his vote, appeals voters to vote for 'vikas yatra' (journey of development)

• Patidar leader Hardik Patel leaves residence to cast his vote, seems confident of victory

• BJP Chief Amit Shah casts his vote and urges people to cast their vote and make "opposers of development lose"

• Parents of Hardik Patel Bharat Patel and Usha Patel cast their votes in Viramgam
• Heeraben Modi, mother of PM Narendra Modi reaches polling booth to cast her vote
• Parents of Hardik Patel Bharat Patel and Usha Patel cast their votes in Viramgam
• Heeraben Modi, mother of PM Narendra Modi reaches polling booth to cast her vote

PM @narendramodi's mother leaves to cast her vote for the second phasehttps://t.co/JQJlKZeiOk pic.twitter.com/1ZkNSEIP7a — ABP News (@abpnewstv) December 14, 2017

Hardik Patel's parents pray as voting for second phase of #GujaratElection2017 begins pic.twitter.com/YZAaAtMWL6 — ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2017

• Arun Jaitley to cast his vote at 9:45
• PM Modi to cast his vote at 11:45 am
• Congress president Rahul Gandhi appeals voters to cast their votes in large number
• Amit Shah to vote at 9 am
• Voting to commence at 8 am

Prominent candidates in second phase polling of Gujarat Assembly elections 2017 Prominent candidates in the fray for today's battle include state deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, who is contesting from Mehsana against Jivabhai Patel of Congress. Alpesh Thakor, who joined the Congress, is seeking election from Radhanpur constituency. Lavingji Thakor of the BJP is contesting against him. Vadgam SC seat is another key constituency from where independent candidate Jignesh Mevani is fighting the election on Congress support against BJP's Vijay Chakravarti. In Maninagar, the constituency once represented by PM Modi, Congress has given ticket to foreign-educated young face Sweta Bhrambhatt against BJP's sitting MLA Suresh Patel. Modi had vacated the constituency after becoming the PM in 2014. Counting of votes will take place on December 18. X factor in Gujarat Assembly elections 2017 The influential Patidar community, which accounts for around 12 per cent of the state's population, could prove to be the 'X factor' in the polls, in which Hardik Patel has pledged support to the Congress and appealed to the people to "uproot the BJP" this time. Gujarat Assembly elections 2017, a precursor of 2019 Lok Sabha polls The elections, being viewed as precursor to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, are a prestige battle for Modi, who helmed the campaign for the ruling BJP in his home state, and a litmus test for Gandhi, who spearheaded the campaign for the Congress. In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP had won 115 seats, while the Congress bagged 61. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 18. (With agencies inputs)