Gujarat polls: PM Modi's mother casts vote

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother Heeraben cast her vote in a polling booth in Gandhinagar as the voting for the second-phase of Gujarat Assembly elections began today.

Former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel has cast her vote in Ahmedabad's Ghatlodia. BJP's Bhupendra Patel is up against Congress's Shashikant Patel on this seat. The voting will continue till 5 pm in more than 25,000 polling stations.

In the second and final phase of elections today, 93 constituencies spread across 14 districts in north and central Gujarat are going to 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 security has been increased in various parts of the state in the wake of the polls.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded 93 candidates for this phase, while Congress has fielded only 91.

Prime Minister Modi, BJP Chief Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will also visit their constituencies to cast their votes.

The voter turnout in the first phase of the polls was 68 per cent.

Meanwhile, repolling will be held tomorrow in two booths of Jamjodhpur constituency, two booths in Una, one in Nijjar, and one in Umargam.

The results will be declared on December 18.

In the 2012 assembly polls, the BJP won 115 seats, while the Congress bagged 61.

-ANI