Gujarat civic polls: Voting in 6 major cities on Sunday

Voting in the civic polls insix major cities of Gujarat will be held between 7am and 5pmon Sunday amid tight security and adherence to COVID-19 norms,officials said.

The municipal corporation elections in Ahmedabad,Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar are being seenas a test for Chief Minister Vijay Rupani as it may set thetone for the Assembly polls slated for next year.

Votes will be cast for a total of 575 seats with eachward having four corporators, and 2,276 candidates, comprising577 from the BJP, 566 from the Congress, 470 from AAP, 91 fromNCP, 353 from other parties and 228 Independents, are in thefray, officials informed.

''The total number of voters in the six cities standsat 1.14 crore, comprising 60.60 lakh men and 54.06 lakh women.

Of the 11,121 polling booths, 2,255 are sensitive and 1,188have been designated as very sensitive,'' a poll official said.

Votes will be counted on February 23, following which,on February 28, polls to 31 district and 231 talukapanchayats, as well as 81 municipalities will be held, headded.

During the campaign, the BJP played the ''development''card, while the Congress, which has been out of power in theselocal bodies for a long time now, cited ''lack of amenities''and the recent fuel price hike to turn the tide.

The Aam Aadmi Party has claimed it would be aneffective alternative to the BJP and Congress, while AsaduddinOwaisi's AIMIM will make its local bodies poll debut havingfielded 21 candidates in six wards in Ahmedabad.

Rupani, who tested positive for coronavirus during thecampaign, may be discharged from hospital later in the nightand is likely to vote in his hometown Rajkot on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)