Ahmedabad: An estimated 60 per cent of the 3.32 crore voters on December 12 exercised their franchise in one of the fiercely contested Assembly elections in Gujarat held amidst tight security, nine months after the Godhra carnage and subsequent communal violence and considered to be a watershed in the country's politics.

The polling in 181 of the 182 constituencies, remained by and large peaceful, barring stray incidents of booth capturing.

There were widespread complaints of names missing from the electoral rolls. This included VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) firebrand leader Pravin Togadia who charged Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh with hatching "a conspiracy against Hindu society by deliberately omitting names of a large number of Hindus".

State Chief Electoral Officer Gursharan Singh said that about 60 per cent voters cast their votes.

Saurashtra, considered a BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) bastion, reported the lowest turnout of about 40 per cent while Nadiad constituency in Kheda district witnessed the highest turnout with 60 per cent polling.

Police fired teargas shells to disperse a crowd that tried to capture a booth in Jambusar constituency in Navsari district, Home Secretary K Nityanandam said.

Some people tried to snatch EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) in two polling stations in Anand constituency breaking their seals, he said.

A pipe bomb was recovered from a polling station in Jetpur in Rajkot and was defused, the Home Secretary said.

Among those whose fate was sealed were Chief Minister Narendra Modi, senior Congress leaders Suresh Mehta, Amarsinh Chaudhary and a number of Cabinet colleagues of Modi.

PTI