Gujrat / Voting for 6 civic bodies including Ahmedabad, Surat underway in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: The voting for elections to municipal corporations of six major cities, including Ahmedabad, is underway in Gujarat amid tight security and adherence to Covid-19 norms.

The six municipal corporations are Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar. The local body elections are being seen as a test for Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani as it may set the tone for the Assembly polls slated for next year.

Voting is being held for a total of 575 seats with each ward having four corporators, and 2,276 candidates, comprising 577 from the BJP, 566 from the Congress, 470 from AAP, 91 from NCP, 353 from other parties and 228 Independents, are in the fray, officials informed.

"The total number of voters in the six cities stands at 1.14 crore, comprising 60.60 lakh men and 54.06 lakh women. Of the 11,121 polling booths, 2,255 are sensitive and 1,188 have been designated as very sensitive," a poll official said.

Polling will conclude at 5 pm.

The counting of votes will be conducted on February 23, following which, on February 28, polls to 31 district and 231 taluka panchayats, as well as 81 municipalities will be held, he added.

More than 43,000 police personnel have been deployed for the civic polls. The deployment included 25,000 personnel from regular units, 15,000 home guards, and 3,000 from the state reserve police force (SRPF).

Meanwhile, the BJP has said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in Gujarat today to cast his vote in the Naranpura ward of Ahmedabad Municipal corporation. While CM Vijay Rupani, who is currently under treatment for Covid-19 at Ahmedabad's UN Mehta Heart Hospital, will cast his vote in a polling booth in Anil Gyan Mandir School in his hometown Rajkot.