Like any other common man, PM Modi stands in queue and casts his vote in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad, December 14: As soon as Gujarat geared up for the 2nd phase of the Assembly polls on Thursday following a heavy election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his vote in Ahmedabad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also became the first sitting PM to vote from Gujarat.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today cast his vote at the booth number 115 in Sabarmati's Ranip locality of Ahmedabad for the Gujarat Assembly polls where BJP's sitting MLA Arvind Patel is up against Congress Jitubhai Patel. Before casting his vote, PM Modi like any other common man stood in the queue. However, after PM Modi cast his vote, locals on the locality gathered near the booth and chanted “Modi-Modi” which proved that he is the most popular Prime Minister ever.
PM Modi’s mother Heeraben was among the first to cast her vote as the final round of voting for Gujarat elections. The 95-year-old voted at a polling booth in Gandhinagar. "Gujarat nu bhalu karo, (I pray to God for Gujarat's well-being)," she said after casting her vote.
Gujarat’s Deputy CM Nitin Patel cast his vote in Mehsana's Kadi. He is contesting against Congress's Jivabhai Patel. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also cast his vote at polling booth no.961 in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur. While BJP National President Amit Shah cast his vote in Naranpura, Gujarat. On the other side, big leaders of Gujarat including Shankersinh Vaghela, Hardik Patel, Bharatsinh Solanki, Shaktisinh Gohil cast their votes in different locations.
Earlier, in the day, describing the Gujarat election as a "festival of democracy", PM Modi today posted a tweet in the morning urging voters in his home state to come out in large 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," the Prime Minister tweeted.
Importantly, the voting will continue till 5 pm in more than 25,000 polling stations. In the second and final phase of elections, 93 constituencies spread across 14 districts in north and central Gujarat is in the polls. A total of 851 candidates are in the fray and over 2.22 lakh people will take part in the election to decide their fate. The BJP has fielded 93 candidates for this phase, while Congress has fielded only 91. In the first phase, 68 percent voting was done while the results will be declared on 18th of December this year. In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP won 115 seats, while the Congress won 61.