Near-record turnout in the state in Tuesday's Lok Sabha elections was primarily because of higher turnout in rural seats, even as turnout in most of the urban seats was lower than in the 2014 elections, an analysis of voting figures released by the chief electoral officer's office shows.
The state recorded all-time high turnout of 64.11% in elections for the 26 Lok Sabha seats on Tuesday, bettering the turnout of 63.77% achieved way back in 1967.
An analysis of the voter turnout figures reveals that 15 Lok Sabha constituencies recorded higher turnout as compared to 2014 elections, which saw the BJP sweeping all 26 seats. Ten seats saw lower turnout than in 2014, while the Gandhinagar seat recorded the exact turnout as in 2014.
Of the 15 seats that saw higher voting, 14 are rural seats and only one urban.
Surat Lok Sabha, which the BJP has won eight consecutive times since 1989, was the sole urban seat where turnout exceeded the 2014 figure. From 63.9%, turnout in the seat touched 64.41%.
"The record high turnout in Gujarat was because people want Narendra Modi to become the prime minister again," said state BJP president Jitu Vaghani.
The figures show that Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat recorded the highest rise in turnout. From 58.54% in 2014, the turnout in Tuesday's election went up by 6.15% to 64.69%.
It was followed by Porbandar, where turnout went up by 4.17% from 52.62% to 56.79%, and Patan, where it rose by 3.24% from 58.74% to 61.98%.
The Congress, on the other hand, said that higher turnout in rural areas would benefit it.
"Turnout was higher in rural seats because of farm crisis, and anger against the government's policies. Lower voting in urban areas also shows that people are not happy with BJP," the party's spokesperson Manish Doshi said.
Among the 10 seats where turnout was lower as compared to 2014, six are rural seats, and four urban seats. The sharpest decline in voting was in Kutch SC seat where it fell by 3.56% from 61.78% to 58.22%.
Vadodara, which had recorded 70.94% turnout in 2014 when PM Narendra Modi had contested, achieved 67.86% voting in the latest polls. The turnout was lower by 3.08% from 2014, even though voting was significantly higher than the state's average 64.11%.
Ahmedabad West SC seat recorded over 2.5% decline in turnout from 62.93% in 2014 to 60.37%, while Ahmedabad East seat saw 0.27% lower turnout with the figure falling from 61.59% to 61.32%.
Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, which comprises four assembly seats of Ahmedabad city, recorded 65.57% turnout, exactly the same as the last time.
Rajkot, the home-town of chief minister Vijay Rupani, also reported lower turnout as compared to the previous Lok Sabha polls.
Bharuch, Junagadh, and Mehsana also recorded 1-3% lower voting over 2014.
