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Millions vote in crucial Gujarat poll
By Suhasini Haidar
AHMEDABAD, India (CNN) -- Fears of more violence during elections for the riot-torn Indian state of Gujarat's legislature didn't deter millions of voters from coming out to vote in crucial elections. According to the election commission, more than 60 percent of the state's 33 million voters exercised their democratic rights on Thursday, with voting ending a short time ago. Initial exit polls for the critical elections are indicating a victory for the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was the first election since Hindu-Muslim rioting in Gujarat earlier this year left more than 1,000 people, mainly Muslim, dead. Fears of more violence were high, with more than 10,000 police and paramilitary forces deployed for election security. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first to turn out to vote. 'Revenge riots'Modi belongs to the right wing BJP, and is accused by human rights groups of deliberately failing to protect Muslims during the rioting that broke out nine months ago, a charge he denies. Local chambers of commerce estimate the rioting cost Gujarat more than two billion dollars and Modi says the negative attention Gujarat received worldwide was unfair. The riots were triggered when a train carrying Hindu activists was set on fire by a suspected Muslim mob in the Gujarat town of Godhra, and 58 people died. Modi denies the charge he was involved in the "revenge riots," but as he campaigned to be re-elected, his speeches made much of the train burning in Godhra, and no mention of the riots that followed. "By having a peaceful election, and by sending out a message of brotherhood, the people of Gujarat will send out the message that those who criticized Gujarat were wrong," Modi said. Modi also attacked Islamic Neighbor Pakistan for what he called its support to Muslim terrorists operating in India. In particular, Modi referred to an attack on the Akshardham temple in September this year, when more than 30 Hindu devotees were shot dead by two gunmen, an attack the BJP blamed on Pakistan. "Only Modi can protect us Hindus," says businessman Viresh Patel at one voting booth, explaining why he voted for the BJP Thursday. 'Fatwas'
As Modi's hardline speeches seemed to attract and consolidate right wing Hindu voters, Muslim clerics in the state released "fatwas" or religious orders to their congregations to vote against the BJP and for the opposition congress party. One voter, 85-year-old Ameenabehn Kadri queued up early this morning. She said her resolve to vote the BJP out came when Muslims in her area of Shahpur were attacked and killed in March this year. "It is important to vote this time, " she says. "Or how can we defeat the government that did this to us Muslims." The congress party is counting on Muslim votes in the state, but needs more than that to win, as Muslims account for only 10 percent of the population in Gujarat. But in a state sharply divided on religious lines, the BJP is expected to do well if it can consolidate the Hindu vote. The BJP's campaign has pitched strongly to the Hindus here, offering up Modi as the leader best able to defend the country against terrorism India claims originates in Pakistan. A loss for the BJP in Gujarat will seriously weaken its position in the Indian government, where it leads the coalition. Opinion polls so far have predicted a close run for the state's 181 assembly seats. Exit polls conducted by Indian television channels have given the BJP a slim majority. Counting of votes and the results are expected on Sunday.
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