At 64.33%, Gujarat sees 4% drop in voter turnout from 2017 assembly polls

Gujarat has registered a voter turnout of 64.33 per cent for the recently-concluded elections to 182 assembly seats, a drop of more than 4 per cent as compared to the turnout registered in the 2017 polls.

As per the latest data shared by the Election Commission on Tuesday, the voter turnout for the first phase of elections held on December 1 for 89 seats was 63.31 per cent and 65.30 per cent for the second phase of polling held on December 5 for 93 seats.

The average turnout for all the 182 seats spread across 33 districts was 64.33 per cent, a drop of 4.08 per cent in comparison to the 2017 assembly polls when Gujarat had registered 68.41 per cent voting.

These figures were shared by the EC, a day after polling for the second phase concluded.

Nearly 3.16 crore voters out of a total of 4.91 crore registered voters had turned up to exercise their franchise on December 1 and 5, it said.

These 3.16 crore voters included 1.69 crore males (66.74%), 1.46 crore females (61.75%) and 445 voters from the 'third gender' category out of 1,391.

Botad district in Saurashtra region registered the lowest voter turnout of 57.59 per cent whereas tribal-dominated Narmada district topped with 78.42 per cent.

Some of the districts which registered a low turnout are - Amreli (57.60%), Ahmedabad (59.05 %), Porbandar (59.50 %), Junagadh (59.54 %) and Kutch (59.85 %).

Districts, where voters came out in good numbers, are -- Tapi (77.04%), Banaskantha (72.49%), Sabarkantha (71.43%), Navsari (71.06%) and Morbi (69.95%), as per the Election Commission.

A total of 1,621 candidates were in the fray for the elections to 182 seats in Gujarat where the Bharatiya Janata Party is seeking a seventh straight term while Congress is keen to improve its tally.

The new-entrant Aam Aadmi Party is trying to make a debut in the state where bipolar contests are the hallmarks of elections.

The results will be declared on December 8.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Patidar leader Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor, Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, Isudan Gadhvi (AAP's CM candidate), Parshottam Solanki, a former BJP minister, Kunwarji Bavaliya, Kantilal Amrutiya, who is called as Morbi "hero", Rivaba Jadeja (BJP), and Paresh Dhanani (Congress) were among the prominent contestants.