Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother Hiraba on Thursday cast her vote at a poll booth located at Aryabhatt High School in Gandhinagar.
She was accompanied by her younger son Pankaj Modi and other family members.
After casting her vote, the prime minister’s mother, who is in her 90s, showed her inked finger to mediapersons outside the poll booth.
Photograph: PTI Photo
“May God bless Gujarat,” she told the reporters while emerging out of the poll booth.
She was among the early voters, who also included former chief minister Anandiben Patel.
Patel, who is not contesting the election, cast her vote at a polling booth in Ahmedabad’s Ghatlodia assembly constituency, from where she was an MLA.
This time, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Bhupendra Patel from the seat, who is pitted against Congress’s Shashikant Patel.
“I am sure that BJP will achieve the target it has set for itself and the party will again form the government. Our candidate will get more votes than what I had got, and the Patidar factor is not going to affect us,” Patel told reporters after casting her vote.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley too stood in the line at the Chimanbhai Institute in the Vejalpur assembly in Ahmedabad to cast his vote.
The Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat also urged voters to come out in large numbers to exercise their right to franchise
“Since the last many years we have made good progress in our development journey, and I am confident that people of Gujarat will come out in large numbers to vote for development,” the minister said.
“I would also appeal to the people to come out and exercise their franchise and continue the journey,” he said.
At the Naranpura area, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah cast his vote.
He came to the polling booth at the Naranpura sub-zonal office to cast vote along with his wife Sonal Shah and son Jay Shah.
“I would like to appeal to the voters to come out in large numbers to cast their vote to take ahead the journey of development,” Amit Shah told reporters after coming out of the polling booth.
He said the development model of Gujarat is “praised across the country”.
“I believe this tempo should be maintained, and the people should vote in large numbers to give a befitting reply to those opposing the Gujarat model,” he said.
The voting for the second and final phase of Gujarat assembly elections is underway for 93 seats of North and Central Gujarat.
