Advani, Jaitley cast vote in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: BJP patriarch L K Advani and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have exercised their franchise in different localities here in Gujarat during on Tuesday's single-phase Lok Sabha elections in the state.

After casting his vote at a polling booth in a school in Shahpur locality, Advani, who is the sitting MP from Gandhinagar constituency in the outgoing Lok Sabha, predicted victory for the BJP in elections.

Shahpur area falls under Ahmedabad (West) Lok Sabha constituency. Jaitley, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, voted at a polling booth set up at Chimanbhai Institute in Makarba locality in the city which is part of Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

BJP president Amit Shah is in the fray from Gandhinagar while Ahmedabad (West) MP Kirit Solanki is seeking re-election from the reserved constituency. Advani, who flew from Delhi to Ahmedabad, reached a polling booth at Shahpur Hindi School located in the Muslim-dominated area in the noon with his daughter Pratibha Advani. Solanki also accompanied Advani. They were greeted with slogans of "Jai Bhim" as they emerged from the booth.

Before leaving, Advani expressed confidence of BJP winning the elections. "We will win," he said while refusing to take questions from reporters.

In the run-up to the elections, the BJP brass dropped 91-year-old Advani from Gandhinagar contest and instead fielded Shah. Advani has represented Gandhinagar six times. Voting is underway for all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat for which a total of 371 contestants are in the fray.

The BJP had won all the 26 seats in the state in the 2014 general elections.