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Rajasthan assembly election: 24.74% voter turnout recorded till 11 AM
The highest polling turned in Dholpur district (30.25%), followed by Hanumangarh (2916%), Baran (28.91%), and Ganganagar (28.22%) while the lowest was in Udaipur (21.07%), Rajsamand (21.98%), Jodhpur (22.58%), and Dungarpur (22.82%) after the four hours of polling.
Rajasthan on Saturday witnessed around 24.74% of polling till 11 am for the 199 assembly constituencies, according to information provided by the election commission.
The voting began at more than 51,000 polling booths at 7am and will continue till 6pm. The results will be declared on December 3. 1,862 candidates are in the fray in 199 seats of the 200 Assembly constituencies whose fate will be decided by more than 50 million voters.
The election in one constituency – Sriganganagar’s Karanpur seat – has been adjourned due to the death of a Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar, who was also the sitting MLA.
According to the election commission, the highest polling turned in Dholpur district (30.25%), followed by Hanumangarh (29.16%), Baran (28.91%), and Ganganagar (28.22%) while the lowest was in Udaipur (21.07%), Rajsamand (21.98%), Jodhpur (22.58%), and Dungarpur (22.82%) after the four hours of polling.
Bharatpur’s Kaman constituency recorded the highest polling of around 38.56%, while the lowest in Rajsamand’s Bhim with only 15.42%.
The state with 51,756 polling stations comprises around 52,538,659 voters – of whom – 27,358,965 are men and 25,179,694 are women. Around 2,220,913 are also all set to cast their votes this election.
According to the election commission, 61,021 elderly and specially-abled people have already cast their votes through home voting, in the state’s first attempt for such a facility.
A direct contest is likely to be seen between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the former is hoping to retain power in the state breaking the 25-year-trend of altering parties every election, the latter is also looking forward to winning the majority of seats to form its government in the desert state.
At present, Congress has 107 MLAs, the BJP 70, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party-3, two each of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP), one from Rashtriya Lok Dal, 13 are independents and two seats – Udaipur and Karanpur are vacant.
The Congress has fielded 97 sitting MLAs, including seven Independents and one from the BJP, while the Opposition BJP has given tickets to six Lok Sabha members and one Rajya Sabha member as well as 59 MLAs.
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot had cast his vote from Jodhpur with his family on Saturday morning. Before voting, he visited his ancestral house in Jodhpur’s Mahamandir lane and reached the polling booth walking with the local people.
Appealing to the people to cast their votes at the maximum number, he told the reporters, “The wind is in Congress’s favour. I can assure you that our party will repeat the government. Our guarantee will only work in the election; (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi’s schemes have failed drastically. BJP will not be visible after today.”
After casting the vote from her own constituency in Jhalrapatan, BJP leader and former CM Vasundhara Raje also appealed to the people, particularly the fresh voters to cast their votes, saying it is their responsibility towards the country.
Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who is also a Congress candidate from Tonk, cast his vote from Jaipur’s Civil Lines area and appealed to everyone to vote.
“I believe that the people will keep the works and the performance of our party in the last five years in mind while voting. People can see how the Congress is working enthusiastically in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh after forming our governments recently. BJP has failed as an opposition. Congress is going to win with full majority,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Union Jalshakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat showed confidence in the BJP’s win after casting his vote from Jodhpur. “BJP will grab the power with a complete majority. People want a change this time after suffering under the Congress rule in the last five years when law and order got devastated, and crime and corruption have seen a sharp rise,” he said.
Among the prominent BJP faces are the Union law minister and Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal, agriculture minister and Barmer MP Kailash Chaudhary, Lok Sabha speaker and Kota MP Om Birla, Amber MLA and the deputy leader of opposition Satish Poonia, BJP’s Vidhyadhar Nagar candidate and Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari, Jhotwara candidate, and Jaipur Rural MP Rajya Vardhan Singh Rathore have also cast their votes in Saturday morning.
State education minister Bulaki Das Kalla, Parliamentary Affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal, and food and civil Supplies minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas were among the prominent Congress candidates who turned in their votes in the first hours of the polling process.
Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra, and the Assam Governor and former Rajasthan minister Gulab Chand Katariya also turned in their votes in the morning.
Meanwhile, a few incidents of clashes were also reported. While an independent candidate – S P Singh in Sikar’s Fatehpur was allegedly assaulted by a few people while heading toward his constituency by car, the people in two polling booths in Alwar’s Tijara and Sirohi’s Pindwara also accused the polling staff of forcing them to vote for a particular political party. However, the incidents were not yet confirmed by the administration.
Technical malfunction in an EVM machine was reported in places, including Sumerpur, Pratapnagar, Pokharan, Sirohi, Nadbai, and Jhalawar, causing delays in the process.
The people in around six polling booths in Pipalda, Ladpura, Sadulpur, Kolukhera, Ahore, and Uchchera boycotted voting due to the administrative ignorance to their long-time issues such as water shortage, lack of a railway-overbridge, merging with an old panchayat etc.
A BJP polling agent identified as Shantilal Rajpurohit (65) in Pali also died after reporting deteriorating health.
However, after casting his vote in Jaipur, CEO Gupta appealed to the people to ensure a peaceful polling process and cast their votes at the maximum number. “People are voting with a fresh wisdom this time. From youth, women to the elderly are taking part in this festival of democracy at a maximum number. There are few EVM malfunctions were reported in some places. We are changing the machines there immediately,” he said.
An 88-year-old voter in Jaipur’s C-Scheme area – Radhakishan Gupta reached the polling booth within a few minutes of the process began at 7am. Holding a stick in one hand and his daughter-in-law’s wrist in another hand, he said, “I like to come and vote from the booths in the morning every year which is why I didn’t opt to vote from home. I will cast my vote for a party who may ensure development in my area.”
