The Election Commission on Monday made a special appeal to voters ahead of the second phase of Gujarat elections. EC urged to remove the apathy regarding the voting seen in the urban areas in the last phase.

In the first phase of Gujarat elections, the polling in Surat, Rajkot and Jamnagar was lower than the state average of 63.3 per cent, as quoted by the the Election Commission in a statement. In the first phase of the 2017 elections in the state, the voter turnout was 66.75 percent.

The commission said that while the polling percentage increased in many constituencies, the average polling figure fell short of urban apathy in important districts. EC further said that even during the recent Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, the urban assembly constituency of Shimla showed the lowest turnout. The voter turnout was recorded at 62.53 percent (down by 13 percent) against the state average of 75.6 percent.

The Election Commission further said that cities in Gujarat have shown a similar trend of urban apathy in the assembly elections from December 1 which has led to a lower turnout in the first phase.

The high-voltage campaign for the second and final phase of the Gujarat assembly elections ended at 5 pm on Saturday. Over 800 candidates are in the fray in 93 constituencies spread across 14 districts in north and central Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Gandhinagar.

The counting of votes will take place on December 8. The first phase of polling was held on Thursday for 89 seats in Saurashtra, Kutch and South Gujarat. Prominent candidates in the second phase include Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel from Ghatlodiya, Patidar leader Hardik Patel from Viramgam and Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader Alpesh Thakor from Gandhinagar South.

For the unversed, Hardik Patel and Thakor are both BJP candidates. The main contest in the election is between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

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