Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a mega roadshow said to be the longest-ever by an Indian leader in home state Gujarat, which voted in the first phase of election today.
There are a total of 1,621 candidates contesting next month's Gujarat elections, to be held in two phases - on December 1 and 5. Of them, 139 are women candidates, with 56 of them contesting as independents.
Payal Kukrani, daughter of Manoj Kukrani, one of the 16 convicts in the case related to the 2002 post-Godhra riots in the Naroda Patiya area of Ahmedabad which killed 97 Muslims, is contesting the polls from the Naroda Assembly constituency.
Gujarat BJP chief CR Paatil on Thursday defended the allotment of party ticket to the daughter of a convict in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case for the next month's Assembly election and said she is a party worker contesting the polls on merit.