Gujarat assembly bypolls: 57.90 voter turnout recorded in Kadi seat, 56.89 pc in Visavadar

Ahmedabad, Jun 19 (PTI) Bypolls to two assembly constituencies in Gujarat were held on Thursday, with Kadi seat in Mehsana registering an estimated voter turnout of 57.90 per cent, followed by Visavadar in Junagadh at 56.89 per cent, officials said.

Both the seats saw a triangular fight as candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which rules the state, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were in the fray.

Voting began at 7 am and concluded in a peaceful manner at 6 pm. The estimated turnout in Kadi constituency was 57.90 percent, while that in Visavadar was 56.89 per cent.

The trends in voting percentage are approximate and the actual number of votes recorded may vary, an official release said.

The counting of votes will be held on June 23.

People were seen queuing up at polling booths to cast their votes since morning, with the candidates from the BJP and Congress in Visavadar being among early voters.

No untoward incident causing poll disruptions was reported in any of the two seats and the process went off largely peacefully, the officials said.

Votes were cast through electronic voting machines (EVMs) at 294 polling stations in each constituency. The state government had declared a public holiday in both the constituencies for voting.

Till 5 pm on the polling day, 41 complaints were received from citizens through the C-Vigil app, out of which 34 were resolved within 100 minutes, stated the release without elaborating further.

The BJP, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had fielded their candidates from both the seats.

The Visavadar seat has been lying vacant since December 2023 after the then AAP legislator Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and joined the ruling BJP.

While the BJP fielded Kirit Patel for the bypoll in Visavadar, the Congress gave ticket to Nitin Ranpariya. AAP's former Gujarat president Gopal Italia also contested the bypoll.

Despite its near-total dominance in the state, the BJP has failed to win the Visavadar seat since 2007. Party leaders said they are hopeful of overcoming the 18-year jinx here.

In 2022 assembly election, AAP's Bhupendra Bhayani had defeated BJP's Harshad Ribadiya, a Congress turncoat and former MLA, by 7,063 votes.

The Kadi seat in Mehsana district, a constituency reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, has been lying vacant since February 4 following the death of BJP MLA Karsan Solanki.

The BJP fielded Rajendra Chavda from Kadi, while the Congress gave ticket to Ramesh Chavda, a former MLA. Ramesh Chavda had won the seat in 2012, but lost it to BJP's Karsan Solanki in 2017.

Like Visavadar, the Kadi seat also witnessed a three-way fight, with the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP fielding Jagdish Chavda.

In the 182-member Gujarat assembly, the BJP has 161 legislators, Congress 12 and AAP four. While one seat is with the Samajwadi Party, two are with independents. The Visavadar and Kadi seats are vacant.

As per the release, a total of 588 polling stations were set up in both the constituencies with guaranteed minimum facilities provided at each polling station.

Moreover, for the first time, a facility to deposit mobile phones was set up at the entrance of the polling stations for the convenience of voters, it said.

In total, four women-run, one persons with disabilities polling stations and one model polling station were set up in the polling stations.

"As many as 172 voters above 85 years of age and differently-abled persons were provided the facility to vote at home through postal ballot, for which the voting process was conducted by specially dedicated teams in the presence of the candidates' representatives," it said.

Since the announcement of elections on May 26, a total Rs 90.15 lakh were seized by various enforcement agencies, it added. PTI KA GK NP