The western Indian state of Gujarat went to polls Thursday, as people queued up at polling booths to exercise their franchaise in the first phase of elections.

The first phase of elections is actually for 87 constituencies in the 182-member state assembly. More than half of the state's electorate belong to these constituencies.

More than 840 candidates from various parties are fighting for these 87 constituencies in the politically crucial Saurashtra region, which will to some extent decide the fate of the state's two-time controversial Chief Minister Narendra Modi who is aiming for a hat-trick.

Modi belongs to the state's ruling and the country's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and is often touted as India's potential prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 general elections.

Political experts say that Modi is very much likely to form the government for the third time in the state even though the country 's ruling Congress party's bigwigs like party chief Sonia Gandhi and Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi campaigned against the Chief Minister across Gujarat.