Vadodara notched highest voting in 27 years

Ahmedabad, May 1 (IANS) Excited by the fact that Narendra Modi was the BJP candidate to the Lok Sabha, a staggering 72 percent voted in Vadodara in Gujarat Wednesday -- the highest voting since 1977.

With a voter strength of around 2.22 million, the constituency had recorded 67.88 percent voting in the 1977 general election that followed the 1975-77 Emergency regime.

In the past, Vadodara was famous as the 'royalty constituency' as three generations of rulers from the erstwhile Baroda kingdom were elected from here before it became a BJP bastion from 1998.

The huge turnout this time was the result of a massive 'voter awareness campaign' launched by the state Bharatiya Janata Party.

This was due to the poor turnout in the past two elections in Vadodara. The year 2009 saw 49 percent voting and 2004 only 39 percent.

In 1995 there was just 30.35 percent voting.

But people of Vadodara are keeping their fingers crossed -- over which Lok Sabha seat will Modi retain if he wins from both Vadodara and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.