Gujarat Goes to the Polls

Courtesy of Haresh PandyaAn elderly woman at a polling booth in Rajkot, Gujarat, on Thursday.

RAJKOT - As millions in India's westernmost state of Gujarat headed to the first of two part polls on Thursday, the rest of the nation was watching carefully for clues to the how the 2014 national election might shape up.

Gujarat, home to the chief minister Narendra Modi, has been a stronghold of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P., for the last several years. Mr. Modi, who is running for a fourth straight term, is well known for his progressive development agenda, but the chief minister remains a deeply divisive figure in In dia because of allegations he failed to stem, and may have encouraged, the 2002 Gujarat riots, which left hundreds dead, most of them Muslims. He has denied any role in the riots.

Almost 900 candidates are contesting 182 seats in Gujarat's two-phase state elections, and a decisive victory by Mr. Modi and his party would greatly increase Mr. Modi's chances to become the B.J.P's candidate for prime minister in the general elections in 2014, analysts say.

Buoyed by economic development and investment in the state, many voters, especially the youth, said they are hoping for Mr. Modi's re-election. “I've come out to vote just because I like Modi,” said Manish Jethava, 26, an electronics engineer from Rajkot. “I hope he retains power in Gujarat.”

The first phase of the two-part Gujarat election saw a record voter turnout of 68 percent on Thursday. Women make up about half of the state's 18 million registered voters, and this year they were given priority in voting booths, thanks to a State Election Commission directive. The second phase will begin Dec. 17.

Earlier this year, the media-savvy Mr. Modi declared 2012 the “Year of Youth Power” in memory of Swami Vivekananda, hoping to inspire voters. On Thursday, young, enthusiastic Gujaratis responded by headed to the polls in the Saurashtra region.

Courtesy of Haresh PandyaVo ters queuing up at a polling booth in Jangleshwar, Gujarat on Thursday.

“I was very excited to vote since it was my first experience,” said Charmy Pandya, 22, a schoolteacher from Rajkot. “I'm not much interested in politics, but I do feel that in a democratic state everybody should vote without fail.”

She made sure she brought others with her, too. “All of us were first-time voters,” she said. “Two of my friends weren't keen to vote, but I persuaded them and convinced them of the importance of every vote in the world's largest democracy.”

The Congress Party has also tried to court the youth vote, heavily banking on the 42-year-Rahul Gandhi, the party's general secretary, who was recently campaigning in Gujarat.

“Just like his father, Rahul Gandhi has a clean image,” said Swati Trivedi, 21, a student from Morbi, who also exercised her right to vote for the first time on Thursday. “I think he will make a good prime minist er. Unlike Modi, he doesn't boast or blow his own trumpet. His humility is so touching,” she said.

Most Congress Party supporters are fast losing hope of a victory in the state, and some believe that a defensive and negative campaign is to blame. But the B.J.P., particularly Mr. Modi, has also not been shy about bashing its opponents. Mr. Modi's personal Web site is splashed with anti-Congress Party banners.

While 20 percent of the candidates are either from the B.J.P. or Congress, a newly formed political party, the Gujarat Parivartan Party, or G.P.P., has 83 candidates. A rebel offshoot of the B. J.P., led by the former B.J.P. stalwart Keshubhai Patel, the new party is threatening to snatch a large chunk of the “Patel vote,” a prominent community in Gujarat.

The Patel vote is also being courted by seven other regional parties and 383 independent candidates, given the dense presence of the Patels throughout Gujarat.