Gujarat polls: Amit Shah casts vote in Ahmedabad, urges first-time voters to participate in elections

Union Home Minister Amit Shah cast his vote in the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls on Monday and appealed to the people, especially first-time voters, to participate in elections.

Shah along with members of his family, including his son BCCI secretary Jay Shah, cast his vote at the AMC Sub-Zonal Office in Naranpura of Ahmedabad.

Amit Shah and his family also offered prayers at a temple in Ahmedabad after casting their vote. "I appeal to everyone to vote, especially the first-time voters - the young girls and boys should vote," Shah said while speaking to the media here.

Voting is underway for the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls in 93 seats across 14 districts of the state. As many as 833 candidates from 61 parties are in the fray in the second phase of the Gujarat elections whose fate will be decided by over 2.51 crore electorates.

The 93 poll-bound seats in the second phase are spread across Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Patan, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Aravali, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Anand, Kheda and Chhota Udaipur districts.

Among the key constituencies in the final phase are Ghatlodia, which will determine the poll fate of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel; Viramgam where Patidar leader Hardik Patel is contesting as a BJP candidate, and Gandhinagar South where the saffron party has fielded Alpesh Thakor.

The Leader of the Opposition, Congress' Sukhram Rathava is contesting from Chhota Udaipur, while Lakhabhai Bharwad, Jignesh Mevani and Amee Yajnik are some other prominent Congress names from Viramgam, Vadgam and Ghatlodia seats.

From the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharat Vakhala from Devgadhbaria, Bheema Chaudhary from Deodar, Dolat Patel from Gandhinagar South, Kunwarji Thakor from Viramgam and Vijay Patel from Ghatlodia will test their electoral fortunes in the second phase.

The high-octane campaigning for the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections came to an end on Saturday evening, which saw big shots across parties trying to woo voters. During the first phase of polling on December 1, Gujarat saw an overall turnout of 63.14 per cent. The voting began at 8 am in 89 constituencies spread across 19 districts of Kutch, Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions.