Ahmedabad, April 26 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to be in Ahmedabad on Sunday to cast their votes in the upcoming local self-government elections in Gujarat.

PM Modi is expected to vote at a polling booth located at Nishan School in the Ranip area of Ahmedabad, while Amit Shah is likely to cast his vote at a polling station in the city.

Their participation comes as one of the largest rounds of local body elections in the state in recent years, involving municipal corporations, municipalities, and panchayati raj institutions, is scheduled for Sunday.

Former Chief Minister and Uttar Pradesh Governor, Anandiben Patel, is expected to vote from the Thaltej area in the city, while Madhya Pradesh Governor, Mangubhai Patel, is likely to cast his vote in Navsari.

Polling across the state is scheduled to take place between 7 A.M. and 6 P.M. using Electronic Voting Machines, with counting of votes set for April 28.

The elections will cover 15 municipal corporations, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats, with more than 10,000 seats at stake.

Over 4.19 crore voters are expected to participate across nearly 50,000 polling stations.

The contest is expected to be multi-cornered, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Independents fielding candidates across the state.

In total, more than 20,000 candidates remain in the fray after withdrawals, while several candidates have already been elected unopposed.

This election cycle is also significant as it is the first to be conducted after the implementation of 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), alongside existing quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women, which together are expected to reshape the composition of local governance bodies.

–IANS

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