Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday cast his vote at a polling booth in Ahmedabad in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections. The single-phase voting for 25 seats in Gujarat is underway.
Dressed in a white kurta and saffron Nehru jacket, Modi arrived at the Nishan Higher Secondary School polling booth in Ahmedabad's in Ranip locality, which falls under the Gandhinagar constituency, to cast his vote amid much fanfare. Security in Gujarat has been tightened over the high-profile presence of the prime minister and Home Minister Amit Shah, who is expected to his cast vote soon. Shah is contesting the polls from the Gandhinagar constituency.
Ahead of their arrival, preparations were underway at Nishan Higher Secondary School.
After coming out of the polling booth, Modi greeted people and interacted with people. He even gave his autograph to people who had gathered outside the polling booth.
"Today is the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections. I appeal to everyone to cast their vote in this democracy. The election campaign will run for three to four weeks more. I always cast my vote here in Gujarat. Amit Shah is contesting the election from here as a BJP candidate. I came here yesterday from Andhra Pradesh and need to go to Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Telangana (today)," he said after he got his finger inked.
"India's election process, election management is an example for the world's democracies to learn from. The world's biggest universities should do a case study," Modi said. "There are elections in around 64 countries and there should be a comparison of all of them. This year is like a celebration of democracy... I again tell the countrymen to vote in large numbers and celebrate the festival of democracy."
The prime minister arrived at the Nishan Public School soon after the voting started at 7 am across the state. He was accompanied by Home Minister Shah and was present at the polling booth when Modi cast his vote.
The counting of the votes for all 543 constituencies in India will be on June 4 and the results will be declared on the same day.
