As Gujarat goes to the polls today in its first phase today, the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) supremo Keshubhai Patel today said the people would vote for a change in the state, and added that Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be thrown out of power after the assembly polls.

"There is a wave of change in entire Gujarat now, be it the tribal areas, coastal region, Ahmedabad, towns or villages," said Patel.

"People have rejected him. The children poke fun at him. Narendra Modi will go this time," he added. The former Gujarat Chief Minister cast his vote here as polling in 87 constituencies for the first phase of assembly polls began at 8 am amidst tight security in the state. Patel, considered to be Modi's arch political rival, is banking on the support of his 'Leuva Patel' community, which dominates 17 constituencies in Saurashtra and Kutch.

The 'Patels' are a key 20 percent of Gujarat's electorate. Patel's Gujarat Parivartan Party is contesting 83 of the 87 seats that poll today. The fate of 846 candidates will be decided in this phase, out of which 46 are women.