Leading from the front

Narendra Modi expressed confidence after casting his vote in Maninagar, Ahmedabad. He said: “Voting first, rest all later; this motto is working. I am confident that as always Gujarat will propel the BJP to take over the reins in Delhi. Advaniji will be the next Prime Minister of India.”

Low voting good for Cong?

Ahmed Patel said after casting his vote in his native village of Piraman in Bharuch: “The low voter turnout will certainly benefit the Congress as has happened in the past. The voter turnout in Bharuch is expected to remain close to 55 per cent, which is low as compared to about 70 per cent in the previous elections. I am sure that the Congress will take over the reins in Gujarat as well.”

Contesting but couldn’t vote

Mahagujarat Janata Party president and Bhavnagar candidate Gordhan Zadafia didn’t cast his vote on Thursday. He is a registered voter from the Ahmedabad-East constituency. Same for the richest candidate for Gujarat, Khimji Padadia, who is contesting from Surendranagar, but is a registered voter in Mumbai

The low point

The lowest voter turnout was witnessed at Surendranagar between 37 and 40 per cent, while the highest turnout was recorded at Junagadh at 58 per cent. Overall, the state average was 46 per cent.

Confusing signals

Some pamphlets saying, “If you want Narendra Modi to be the PM next time, don’t vote for Advani this time,” were being distributed in the Vadaj area of Gandhinagar constituency. The BJP and Congress levelled allegations against each other for the distribution of the pamphlets, which were seized by BJP party workers.

Biggies in fray

Gujarat votes for a Prime Minister-in-waiting from the BJP, L K Advani, and three Union Ministers from the UPA, Dinsha Patel, Shankersinh Vaghela and Naran Rathwa in the polls.

Faster search engine

For the first time, election authorities deployed laptops and computers at polling stations to help voters find their names in the voters list, helping hundreds to cast their votes by ensuring speedy search.

Perks of voting

In Jamalpur area of Ahmedabad, the owner of Raja Juice Centre offered 50% reduction in prices to all those who have exercised their voting rights. Picture on Page 3

Cast away

Around 350 voters residing in different societies in Kadampalli area in Nanpura, Surat, including city Congress president Sunil Bhukhanwala, were not allowed to cast votes as their names were missing from the voters’ list.

Cool but not enough

Gujarat was nominally cool as compared to the temperatures in the recent past. On Tuesday, Amreli recorded the highest temperature at 43.8 degrees Celsius, Ahmedabad at 43 degrees, Vadodara at 41.5 degrees and Rajkot at 42.9 degrees Celsius.