In a bizarre incident, Congress MLA Paresh Dhanani while casting his vote for ongoing Assembly elections in Gujarat carried a ‘gas cylinder’ with him on a bicycle he was riding.
According to the MLA, his intention behind this act was to underline the issues of high fuel prices, inflation and joblessness.
Paresh Dhanani charged the Bhartiya Janata Party for making Gujarat a slave of selfishness and fear.
He said, “The BJP conspired to turn Gujarat into a slave between the walls of selfishness and fear. Because of the government’s failure, inflation and unemployment are regularly increasing. A gas cylinder costs over Rs 1100, electricity is expensive, the price of transportation has skyrocketed, education is being privatised, government schools are shut, more than 3.5 lakh people lost their lives to Corona. I believe there is extreme distress due to the BJP’s failure.”
“My vote will open the doors of new opportunities for the youth with a new government. There will be a transition of power and Congres will come,” he added.
Tight security measures are in place as voting for the Gujarat Assembly election’s first round begins.
In 89 constituencies distributed across 19 districts in Kutch, Saurashtra, and South Gujarat, voting is taking place.
The fate of the 788 candidates who are in the running for the first phase will be decided by the votes cast by a total of 2,39,76,670 voters by today at 5 p.m.
1,24,33,362 male electorates, 1,15,42,811 female electorates, and 497 electorates of a third gender make up the total electorates. There are more over 4 lakh PWD voters who can cast ballots.
The voting age is 80 years or older for almost 9.8 lakh elderly citizens, and 100 years or more for around 10,000 voters.