Gujarat bypoll: Voting underway at 260 booths, BJP eyes retaining stronghold
Voting began on Thursday for the by-election to Gujarat's Manjalpur assembly seat, with polling under way to decide the fate of two candidates in the
Voting began on Thursday for the by-election to Gujarat's Manjalpur assembly seat, with polling under way to decide the fate of two candidates in the contest. According to the office of the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer, voting started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, while the counting of votes will take place on August 3. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of senior BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Yogesh Patel on June 2 after a prolonged illness.
Read Full Story The ruling 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. Officials said all administrative, security and technical arrangements have been completed to ensure free, fair and transparent polling. A total of 2.19 lakh citizens are eligible to vote in the bypoll, including 1,11,645 men, 1,07,847 women and two third-gender voters. Polling is being held at 260 polling stations set up across 62 locations, with each polling station catering to an average of 844 voters.
Election Commission officials said several voter-friendly measures have been put in place, 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, had represented the Raopura assembly constituency in Vadodara five times between 1990 and 2007 before moving to the newly created Manjalpur seat after delimitation, where he won in 2012, 2017 and 2022 to complete eight consecutive Assembly victories over 36 years.
In all, the by-election in Manjalpur is being held to fill the vacancy left by Yogesh Patel's death, with polling continuing till 6 pm on Thursday and the result to be declared after counting on August 3. Ends
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