A voter turnout of 60.20% was recorded in the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections on Thursday, covering 19 districts of Saurashtra-Kutch and southern regions of the state. The voter turnout on Thursday was less than 66.75% recorded in the first phase of the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls.
Barring a few incidents and reports of technical glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at some places, the voting process, which began at 8 am and continued till 5 pm, was largely peaceful, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi said.
Polling for the first phase involved 788 candidates. This includes ten ministers and 51 sitting MLAs. Tapi recorded the highest turnout of 72.32%, followed by tribal-dominated Narmada district at 68.09%, the EC said. Botad district recorded the lowest voter turnout of 57.58%, it said in its final tally. Amreli followed closely with 57.59% turnout.
