Guj polls: Cong MLA carries 'cylinder' on bicycle to cast vote

AMRELI (GUJARAT): Congress MLA Paresh Dhanani cast his vote for Assembly elections in Gujarat in a bizarre manner as he carried a 'gas cylinder' with him on the bicycle he was riding.

With the intention to underline the issues of high fuel prices, inflation and joblessness, the Congress MLA from Amreli went to the polling booth on a bicycle with a cylinder on it.

While talking to ANI, Paresh Dhanani charged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for conspiring to make Gujarat a slave within the walls of selfishness and fear.

"The BJP conspired to turn Gujarat into a slave between the walls of selfishness and fear. Because of the government's failure, inflation and unemployment are regularly increasing. A gas cylinder costs over Rs 1100, electricity is expensive, the price of transportation has skyrocketed, education is being privatised, government schools are shut, more than 3.5 lakh people lost their lives to Corona. I believe there is extreme distress due to the BJP's failure," Paresh Dhanani said.

He further said that he has voted to defeat inflation. "My vote will open the doors of new opportunities for the youth with a new government. There will be a transition of power and Congres will come," he added.

Polling for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly election is underway amid tight security arrangements. The polling is taking place in 89 constituencies spread across 19 districts of Kutch, Saurashtra and South Gujarat.

A total of 2,39,76,670 voters who will cast their votes by 5 pm today will decide the fate of 788 candidates who are in the fray for the first phase. Out of the total number of electorates, 1,24,33,362 are males, 1,1,5,42,811 females and 497 are from the third gender. Over 4 lakh PWD voters are eligible to cast their votes.

Nearly 9.8 lakh senior citizen voters (80+) and nearly 10,000 voters who are 100 and above are eligible to vote. According to the EC, there are 5,74,560 voters who are between 18 to 19 years of age while 4,945 voters are above 99 years of age. There are 163 NRI voters, of which 125 are men and 38 are women.

There are 14,382 voting centres, out of which 3,311 are in the urban areas and 11,071 in the rural areas. According to the EC, there is live webcasting of 13,065 polling booths in 19 districts being done during the first phase of voting. A state-level monitoring room is also functioning at Gandhinagar by the Chief Electoral Officer. There has been continuous observation from 6.30 am till the voting completes.

As per the instructions of the Election Commission, the entire arrangement has been made. In the first phase, voting is being held at a total of 25,430 polling stations. Out of these 13,065, polling stations are webcast live. Among prominent candidates, Gujarat Chief Minster Bhupendra Patel is contesting from Ghatlodia, AAP Chief Ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi from Khambhaliya, former Congress leader and BJP candidate Hardik Patel from Viramgam, former Congress leader and now BJP candidate Alpesh Thakor from Gandhinagar South.

AAP state president Gopal Italia is contesting from Katargam constituency, Gujarat Home Minister (State) Harsh Sanghavi from Majura, Rivaba Jadeja from Jamnagar North, former Gujarat minister Parshottam Solanki from Bhavnagar Rural, Kunwarji Bavaliya from Jasdan, Kantilal Amrutiya from Morbi and Jayesh Radadiya from Jetpur. Vaghodia. The counting of votes will be done on December 8.

Results of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections will also be declared on the same day.