Amid tight security first phase Guj Assembly Polls peaceful

Ahmedabad, Dec 11 (UNI) Stray incidents of violence were reported in the first phase of Gujarat Assembly Polls for 87 constituencies today, which, by and large, passed off peacefully.

A BJP worker at Rajkot was stabbed this morning. The police also recovered two live crude bombs from Borsad town.

Earlier on December 9, a girl was killed in a bomb blast and also recovered seven bombs. While yesterday, a man sustained injuries when a bomb went off in the town.

State Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala was the first to cast his vote at Rajkot. However, Chief Minister Narendra Modi's arch rival and former Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel decided not to vote.

Meanwhile, in Surat city, at least six voters could not cast their votes despite having EPIC cards as their names were deleted from the voters list by the authorities.

BJP candidate Ishwarsinh Patel from Ankleshwar was prevented from casting his vote as he did not have an identity card.

As many as six incidents of electronic machines developing glitches were recorded. Of these, three were in Rajkot, two in Porbandar and one in Jetpur.

Surat Collector Dilip Rawal lodged a complaint against BJP supporter Kanak Singh for violating the Model Code of Conduct.

Mr Rawal also ordered replacement of a presiding officer in the election halfway through.

In Bharuch, Congressman Amarsinh Rana was booked by the police for distributing election materials.

Over 2500 visually-challenged people cast their ballots with the help of EVMs equipped with Braille.

UNI