Elaborate arrangements in place for last phase of Gujarat Assembly polls

Elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure that the last phase of Assembly elections in Gujarat are held in a free and fair manner on Sunday.

Ahmedabad, Dec 15 : Elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure that the last phase of Assembly elections in Gujarat are held in a free and fair manner on Sunday.

Some of the leading candidates are Gujarat Chief Minister Modi Narendra Modi, his rival, central minister Dinsha Patel, state ministers Anandiben Patel, Amit Shah and Ashok Bhatt and veteran Congress leader Narhari Amin.

While the fight is mainly between the BJP and the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party is also contesting independently.

A total of 18.7 million people are expected to decide the fate of 599 candidates who are in the fray.

Polling will be held in 95 Constituencies, which are spread over eleven districts in the central and northern parts of the state.

Tight security arrangements have been made in Anand, Nadiad, Karamsad, Khambhat, Sujitra, Khadga and other assembly segments.

Over 50,000 security personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order in the state.

Besides the state police, around 574 central paramilitary companies have also been pressed into service to instill a sense of security among the voters.

The Election Commission has set up 20,545 polling stations in the 95 constituencies. Besides, the Commission has directed the videographing at all stations.

Apart from this, the Commission has deployed over 4,800 micro-observers to prevent bogus voting and to keep away miscreants from the poll process.

One lakh twenty three thousand state, central government and public sector officials have been engaged to conduct the poll.

Around 60 percent of the Gujarat electorate voted during the first phase of Assembly elections on December 11.

Voting was held in 87 constituencies of the 182-member State Assembly. Of these, 58 constituencies were located in Saurashtra and Kutch regions, and 29 in South Gujarat.

The counting of votes will take place on December 23.

The term of the State's Legislative Assembly expires on December 26.

The BJP managed to win 127 seats, while the Congress party was able to win only 51 seats in the 2002 Gujarat Assembly polls. The Janata Dal (United) and independents won two seats each.

ANI