Page 5 - Gujarat Elections

Urban voters should come forward: Guj chief polling officer on low turnout

Gujarat's Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi raised concerns over the 'low' voter turnout in urban areas in the first phase of the Assembly polls on December 1

'She's still fighting for justice': Owaisi gets emotional over Bilkis case

Known for fiery speeches, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday got emotional talking about Bilkis Bano while campaigning in Gujarat's Jamalpur

LIVE: Court acquits Umar Khalid in Delhi riots case, to stay in custody

Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey confirmed that Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi were discharged in the matter by the court of Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala

Gujarat's battle of the losers

In Gujarat, even a Modi win could be sobered if AAP makes a sizeable impact. It's as if there's an overwhelming favourite for the gold medal, the fight is for the silver and bronze

Cong blaming EVMs indicates it has accepted defeat in Gujarat polls: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Congress alleging tampering of Electronic Voting Machines is an indication that it has already accepted defeat in the Gujarat Assembly elections. Voting for 89 seats in the first phase of the Gujarat elections took place on Thursday. "The way Congress has started blaming EVMs after yesterday's voting in Kutch, Saurashtra and south Gujarat, it is evident the opposition party has conceded defeat and has accepted that the BJP will win the election. Alleging EVM tampering is an indication the Congress is on its way out," said Modi. He was speaking at an election rally in Patan town of north Gujarat where voting will be held along with remaining 92 seats on December 5. "The Congress knows only two things, abuse Modi ahead of polls to please the voters and then blame EVMs after voting. This proves the Congress has accepted defeat," the prime minister said. He also slammed past Congress governments for 'widening' the rift between the rich a

BJP not filling up 500k posts as most will go to Dalits: Kharge in Gujarat

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dispensation in Gujarat was not filling up five lakh posts in government and semi-government departments and institutions because half of them will go to aspirants from Dalit, tribal and other backward caste communities. Kharge, addressing an election rally in the Scheduled Tribe (ST)-reserved Assembly constituency of Bhiloda in Aravalli district ahead of the second phase of polling on December 5, alleged the BJP-ruled state has seen a 17 per cent rise in cases of atrocities against Dalits and adivasis. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and local leaders talk about a "double engine" government, a term often used by the BJP to highlight benefits of having the same party in power at the Centre and states, and questioned why this "engine" failed, leading to Gujarat having three chief ministers in six years. The BJP has brought in an army of five party chief ministers, 40 central ministers and 15

BJP, Cong leaders claim to 'form' govt in Gujarat after 1st phase poll

A day after the first phase of voting in Saurashtra, Kutch and South Gujarat region ended, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that the BJP was retaining power

Gujarat Assembly polls: Over 60% voter turnout recorded in Phase 1

A voter turnout of 60.48 per cent was recorded in the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections which covered 89 constituencies of Saurashtra-Kutch and south Gujarat region. This was 8 per cent le

Don't repeat post-Independence mistake, bring BJP back in Gujarat: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people of Gujarat to bring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in the state and not to repeat the "mistake" committed after the country's Independence, an apparent reference to the long rule of the Congress. He said the BJP government was necessary to build a strong foundation for India when the country celebrates 100 years of Independence 25 years from now. Modi, while addressing an election rally in Himmatnagar town of Sabarkantha district, said, "This election is not just about forming a government here for five years. The country has completed 75 years of Independence. You must keep in mind where India will be 25 years from now. This election is all about making a government which would strengthen the foundation of the country for the next 25 years." Voting for 93 seats out of the total 182, including Himmatnagar, will be held on December 5 in the second phase. "Everyone says that India would have been moving in a different direction

Gujarat Assembly elections 2022: BJP's prestige battle to defend its turf

Not just as the home state of PM Narendra Modi, but also as a major producing and exporting state known for its trade and enterprise, Gujarat holds a special place for all political parties

Gujarat polls 2022: PM Modi's 30 km-long roadshow underway in Ahmedabad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's more than 30-km-long roadshow in Ahmedabad city, where polling will be held in the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections, started from Naroda village on Thursday evening. A large number of people standing on both sides of the route welcomed Modi and greeted him with flowers during the roadshow that began around 5.20 pm. Standing on a specially-designed vehicle, the prime minister waved back at the crowd. The mega roadshow will cover the eastern side of Ahmedabad and ends at the IOC circle in the Chandkheda area on the city's western side, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said in a release. The roadshow is scheduled to pass through various parts of the city, including Hirawadi, Hatkeshwar, Maninagar, Danilimda, Jivraj Park, Ghatlodia, Naranpura and Sabarmati. It will cover 13 seats of Ahmedabad city as well as Gandhinagar-South, the release said. Polling under the first phase of elections in 89 seats of Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions was

Gujarat Assembly polls phase-1 end: 59.2% voter turnout recorded till 5 pm

An average voter turnout of 34.65 per cent wass recorded till 1 pm on Thursday in the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections underway in 89 seats across 19 districts of Saurashtra-Kutch and southern regions, the Election Commission said. Voting began at 8 am and 33 ballot units, 29 control units and 69 voter verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) were replaced in the first three hours of polling at different stations due to malfunctioning, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said. As many as 26,269 ballot units, 25,430 control units and 25,430 VVPATs were being used in polling stations across the 19 districts where voting was being held in the first phase to decide the fate of 788 candidates. Even as voting was underway in parts of the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed rallies at Kalol in Panchmahal and Chhota Udepur, where the elections will be held in the second phase on December 5. Out of the 19 districts where polling was underway on Thursda

Latest LIVE: India cuts windfall tax on crude oil output, diesel exports

Catch all the latest news and updates from around the world here

Gujarat CM holds roadshow in Mehsana for phase-2 of poll campaign

The Chief Minister's roadshow is being held when polling for the first phase in 89 of the 182 constituencies is underway in the state

Amid support for Modi, steady grumble about unemployment in Gujarat

Nearly 3.64 lakh educated and "semi-educated" youngsters had registered with employment exchanges across Gujarat till December 2021, according to state government data. Of them, the highest number of unemployed youths -- 26,921 -- were in Vadodara, followed by Ahmedabad (26,628), Anand (22,515), Rajkot (18,997) and Kheda (16,163) districts. The figures were shared by Labour, Skill Development and Employment Minister Brijesh Merja in his written replies to a set of questions by the opposition Congress during the State Legislative Assembly session in March. Unemployment remains a major issue in Gujarat even as the BJP-ruled state's governance model has been at the core of the Narendra Modi-led dispensation at the Centre. Polling to elect 182-member Gujarat Legislative Assembly is scheduled to be held in two phases on Thursday and December 5. In its recent report titled Unemployment in India - A Statistical Profile', the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a Mumbai-based pri

PM Modi's home state vote could show trends for 2024 Lok Sabha elections

PM Narendra Modi ruled Gujarat for over a decade before moving to the national stage in 2014

Gujarat Elections: PM Modi to hold 50 km long roadshow in Ahmedabad today

This road show by PM Modi is expected to pass through 16 assembly constituencies that go into polls in the second phase of the Gujarat election on December 5

Voting begins for 1st phase of Gujarat polls; 89 seats, 788 candidates

Polling began at 8 am on Thursday for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections in 89 out of the total 182 seats across 19 districts of Saurashtra-Kutch region and southern parts of the state to decide the fate of 788 candidates. The voting is being held across 14,382 polling stations, of which 3,311 are in the urban and 11,071 in rural areas, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said. Live webcasting is being done from 13,065 polling stations to keep a close eye on the process, it said. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has ruled Gujarat for 27 years, is trying to retain power in the state for the seventh term in a row. If it succeeds, it will equal the record of the Left Front government which won the West Bengal elections for seven consecutive terms till 2011. This time, the BJP faces competition not just from its traditional rival Congress but also the new poll entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has tried to position itself as the main challenger

LIVE updates: FM Sitharaman sees strong growth, low inflation in 2023

Latest news updates: Catch all the live updates from around the world here

Cong asks EC to take action against channels airing 'sponsored' polls

The Congress has urged the Election Commission to take strict action against the alleged airing of "sponsored" opinion polls on the Gujarat assembly election ahead of voting in the first phase on Thursday and claimed it was a brazen attempt to influence the electorate. A delegation of Congress leaders led by AICC legal cell head Vivek Tankha met the Election Commission and apprised the poll body of the "violations by media". The opposition party urged the EC to take action against news channels violating directions issued by it in respect of programmes related to the dissemination of election results. They alleged that the media channels were predicting the poll outcome in a bid to influence the voters and this was a serious issue. Tankha also claimed that they have information concerning the "safety of the ballot boxes" and urged the Commission to ensure there is no tampering. The Congress said it has observed that certain news channels have been publishing/publicising programmes