Tea time
Polling agents at a Narayanpura booth cracked jokes and shared tea to while away time as there was a poor turnout here. The Congress withdrew its polling agent here last year as it didn't win even a single vote. This year, a former home minister acted as its agent, if only for a while.

Young voters
Though there were hardly any flags, posters or loudspeakers, children and teenagers seemed to enjoy the elections. They played kabbadi on the party office mats at different offices in the night preceding voting and on poll day, managed to cast votes and feel thrilled.

Deposits to go
Of the nine candidates, the six Independents were Shashikant Patel (arrow), Salim Pathan (bat), Abdul Gani (aeroplane), Dinesh Vasava (hut), Bechubhai Vasava (axe) and Sayyed Mohammed Syed (tree). All are likely to lose their deposits.

Morale down
Some Congress and BJP men had their own set of complaints. ``Apart from AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel, not a single heavyweight came to boost our morale'', said a local Congressman. The BJP workers echoed similar feelings and even described Surat's Kashiram Rana as sthanik or `local' neta''.

Issues galore
It was an unusual election. No candidate spoke of issues related to Gujarat or the constituency. Corruption, communalism and criminalisation of politics dominated the polls. Local issues were non-existent.