Vadodara, Jul 30 (PTI) A voter turnout of 14.27 per cent was recorded till 11 am on Thursday in the by-election to the Manjalpur assembly seat in Gujarat’s Vadodara, officials said.
Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, while counting of votes will take place on August 3, according to the office of the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
The voting process is underway in a peaceful manner and no untoward incident has been reported so far, the officials said.
The bypoll was necessitated by the death of senior BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Yogesh Patel on June 2 after a prolonged illness.
“A voter turnout of 14.27 per cent has been recorded between 7 am and 11 am for the by-election to Manjalpur assembly constituency,” a statement issued by the poll authorities said.
The bypoll is witnessing a direct contest between the ruling BJP and the Congress.
The BJP has fielded former Vadodara Municipal Corporation councillor Satish Govindbhai Patel, while the Congress has nominated its Gujarat vice president and former minister Bhikhabhai Rabari.
According to the CEO’s office, all administrative, security and technical arrangements have been put in place to ensure free, fair and transparent polling.
A total of 2.19 lakh voters, including 1,11,645 men, 1,07,847 women and two third-gender voters, are eligible to cast their votes in the bypoll.
Polling is being conducted at 260 polling stations across 62 locations, with each polling station catering to an average of 844 voters.
The Election Commission has implemented several voter-friendly initiatives, including 100 per cent webcasting at all polling stations, mobile deposit facilities for electronic gadgets, real-time poll monitoring and adherence to the prescribed voter limit at polling stations.
The Manjalpur constituency had recorded a voter turnout of 60.15 per cent in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections.
Yogesh Patel, an eight-time BJP legislator, represented the Raopura assembly constituency in Vadodara five times between 1990 and 2007 before shifting to the newly created Manjalpur seat after delimitation. He won the Manjalpur seat in 2012, 2017 and 2022, completing eight consecutive victories in the Gujarat assembly over 36 years. PTI COR PJT PD NP
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