Gandhinagar, Dec. 13 (IANS): The second phase of elections in Gujarat on Thursday will see polling held for 93 assembly constituencies across 14 districts in northern and central regions of the state, with a host of VVIPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, descending on Ahmedabad to cast their vote.
Meanwhile, in the so-called ‘dry’ state of Gujarat, the police and administration have seized around Rs 53 crore worth of goods for violation of the state’s liquor prohibition policy. The seizure was carried out as a special drive and a part of the election procedure.
Special deployment of the police has been made for the elections and for law and order. The second phase will see 851 candidates contest for the 93 assembly seats. Elections will be held in Banaskantha, Patan, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Aravalli, Mahisagar, Panchmahal, Dahod, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Chhota Udepur districts from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.. A total of 25,575 polling booths have been set up in 14,523 places. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Gujarat’s office has completed all the necessary procedures and claimed to be fully prepared for the day.
Apart from the 112 general observers deployed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the Gujarat elections, 70 counting observers have been appointed by the ECI for counting of votes registered in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) which will be carried out on December 18 in 37 selected regions of the state.
To take care of the law and order situation, the ECI has deployed hundreds of companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), 12 companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and 19 more companies of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) for the election.
