60% turnout in 2nd phase

BATTLEFIELD GUJARAT

Polling ends; exit polls say Modi ahead by a narrow margin.

The fate of 599 candidates including that of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been sealed in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) after polling for the second and last phase of the Gujarat assembly elections drew to a close this evening.

Polling saw a voter turnout of around 60 per cent, leaving both the ruling BJP as well as the Congress claiming a victory. While supporters of Narendra Modi claimed the BJP will win more seats that it did in 2002, the Congress leaders maintained that they'll form the government. In 2002, the voter turnout in these 11 districts was 61.64 per cent.

"The high voter turnout in cities may benefit BJP. But this time, voting has been high in villages as well. We see this as a clear case of anti-incumbency," said a Congress spokesperson.

As many as 599 candidates, including 31 women in 95 constituencies including Modi and other high profile contenders like Anandiben Patel, Amit Shah, Prabhatsinh Chauhan and Ashok Bhatt, and Congress veteran Narhari Amin were in the fray.

A large number of people, including former India cricketer Nayan Mongia, complained their names were missing from voters lists. There were some stray incidents of stone-pelting and complaints of names missing from the voters' list and faulty EVMs. However, the polling in 25,545 booths in north and central Gujarat regions was incident-free.

The counting of votes will be held on December 23. Elections for 87 assembly seats were conducted on December 11.

The regions where the second phase of elections was held today were among the worst-affected in the 2002 riots. Police took into custody Jayanti Rathwa, candidate from Pavi Jetpur constituency of central Gujarat. He was charged with illegal possession of weapons, which were seized from three vehicles driven by his supporters.

Exercising his franchise here this morning, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said BJP will romp to a "historical victory" in the state assembly elections. Modi cast his vote at the Nav Chetan school in Ranip locality of the city here.

A large number of BJP supporters and eager onlookers had gathered at Ranip to catch a glimpse of Modi on his arrival.

On the other hand, after casting his vote for the second phase of Gujarat polls at the Bhardaiyawas Municipal school in Khanpur area of the city, BJP leader LK Advani said neither anti-incumbency nor dissidence within the BJP ranks in Gujarat will have any effect on the party's performance in the state assembly elections.

"I have not seen any anti-incumbency factor in Gujarat," the former deputy-prime minister said, adding, "Normally anti-incumbency factor is associated more with sitting MLAs and candidates. But the BJP has made certain changes (in appointment of the candidates) which will benefit the party."

Asserting that the BJP will emerge victorious in both the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls, Advani said the party will win hands down in Gujarat and come back to power under the leadership of Narendra Modi.

"In Gujarat, the BJP under the leadership of Chief Minister Narendra Modi will get the necessary mandate to form the government," he said.

Advani, who was recently declared as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate said, "The Lok Sabha elections which were to happen in 2009 will now happen in 2008 due to the inability at the Centre."

Meanwhile, BJP president Rajnath Singh in Chandigarh before heading for neighbouring Himachal Pradesh to address three different election meetings told reporters the Congress had "lowered the political debate" during the electioneering in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. "The biggest problem for the Congress is that the party is facing a crisis of credibility," Rajnath Singh said.

Alleging that the Congress has "lowered the political debate" during the electioneering in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, BJP today said the party was facing a serious crisis of credibility.

"The biggest problem for the Congress is that the party is facing crisis of credibility," BJP president Rajnath Singh told reporters here before heading for neighbouring Himachal Pradesh to address three different election meetings in Mandi and Bilaspur districts of the hill state.

He said the BJP has accepted Congress' diatribe against it as a challenge. Taking a dig at Congress President Sonia Gandhi for allegedly describing BJP as a party "without direction and corrupt" at a political rally at Una in Himachal Pradesh yesterday, he said that BJP never commented against its political opponents in such a way whereas the Congress was using "derogatory language" against other outfits.

"If the Congress levels any allegations against any individual then it is all right, but such serious accusations are not acceptable against a party," he said adding "Congress Haas lowered the political debate".

Singh also charged Gandhi with lacking in vision to take the country on the path of development and claimed that during the previous NDA regime the country became economic power globally.

"If Congress has any vision then it should control the hike in prices of essential commodities," he said. Singh claimed that two years ago the BJP had sought a white paper from the Centre on its failure to control price hike and the UPA never came out with it. It was afraid of being exposed.