About 1.9 crore voters will decide the fate of 141 candidates in the eight seats of Saurashtra-Kutch on April 30.

The region has been put under a thick security cover. A 35,000-strong force comprising personnel from the state police, SRP, home guards and paramilitary forces have been deployed for poll-related duty.

Security has been beefed up along the 1,600-km coastline from Kutch to Valsad, as also for the important pilgrimage spots of Dwarka and Somnath has been enhanced.

As many as 7,000 personnel have been deployed for poll-related duty in Surendranagar. The corresponding figures for Rajkot, Junagadh, Kutch, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Amreli and Bhavnagar are 6,000; 4,000; 3,900; 2, 900; 2,100 and 1,200, respectively.

There are four sitting MPs in the fray in Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Surendranagar and Junagadh. Only nine women candidates are in the fray in these eight seats, while a total of 10 new faces are representing the two main parties here. The male and female voters number 55.98 lakh and 53.35 lakh respectively.

Under the randomisation process done by the district administration, not a single staff member will be on the poll duty at his respective taluka. They have been allotted a day’s postings in talukas other than their usual area of work.

In Rajkot district, there will be 14,508 employees on poll duty across 2,501 booths, which will be under the scanner of 306 zonal officers and 661 micro-observers.

The dispatch of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) began on Wednesday. Over 70 private utility vehicles and 198 private buses were pressed into service for the transportation of EVMs.

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