Anand, April 23 (IANS) Polling for the Umreth Assembly by-election in Gujarat’s Anand district concluded on Thursday evening with an estimated voter turnout of 59.04 per cent recorded by 8 p.m., according to the Election Commission of India, marking the close of voting conducted through the day.​

Voting took place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. across 306 polling stations in the constituency, which spans 46 villages in Umreth taluka as well as parts of the Anand rural area and the municipalities of Ode, Umreth and Boriavi.

A total of 2,45,623 voters were eligible to cast their ballots.​

The turnout figure recorded in the evening is being treated as the approximate final, subject to official confirmation.

The by-election was necessitated following the death of sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Govind Parmar last month.​

Six candidates contested the seat, with the main contest seen between BJP nominee Harshad Parmar, son of the late MLA and Congress candidate Bhrugurajsinh Chauhan. Other candidates in the fray included Maulik Shah of the Bharatiya National Lok Dal and independents Jitesh Sevak, Nirupa Madhu and Mahendra Parmar.​

Voters turned out despite rising temperatures, with higher activity reported during the morning and later in the afternoon.​

Election authorities had made arrangements such as drinking water, ORS packets and shaded waiting areas at polling stations to mitigate the effects of the heat.​

The election process was conducted under extensive administrative and security deployment.​

Around 1,348 polling personnel were stationed across booths, supported by 22 micro observers and 19 district-level nodal officers, taking the total deployment to nearly 1,500 staff.​

Security arrangements included the deployment of senior police officers, around 500 police and home guard personnel, and three companies of the Central Reserve Police Force to ensure a peaceful voting environment.​

The electorate included 4,174 first-time voters aged 18-19 years, along with 1,556 voters above 85 years of age and 1,546 persons with disabilities.​

Special provisions such as wheelchairs, volunteers and dedicated transport were made available, while some voters from these categories had already exercised their franchise through home voting prior to polling day.​

BJP candidate Harshad Parmar said during the day, “This is a festival of democracy. I visited every village, town and city to spread the message and received immense support from the people. It is because of everyone’s blessings and collective efforts during the campaign. We are confident of winning.”​

Counting of votes for the by-election is scheduled to take place on May 4.​

–IANS

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