E-Paper
By-polls on 3 assembly seats in Rajasthan underway
Chief electoral officer Praveen Gupta said all voters will undergo thermal scanning and will have to wear gloves and masks at polling booths to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
By-polls to three assembly constituencies of Sujangarh, Sahara and Rajsamanad in Rajasthan is underway amid tight security arrangements on Saturday. Polling started in these three assembly seats at 7am amid strict adherence to Covid-19 protocol. Chief electoral officer Praveen Gupta said all voters will undergo thermal scanning and will have to wear gloves and masks at polling booths to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Officials will also ensure that social distancing norms are followed, he told news agency PTI.
Click here for full assembly election coverage
The Sahara seat, which falls in the Bhilwara district, fell vacant following the death of Congress MLA Kailash Trivedi due to the coronavirus disease in October last year. For the by-polls in this constituency, the ruling party has fielded Gayatri Devi, the late minister's wife, against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Ratanlal Jat.
The Rajsamand assembly constituency fell vacant in November last year after BJP legislator Kiran Maheshwari died of Covid-19. Congress has fielded Tansukh Bohara, a social worker, against the BJP's Deepti Maheshwari, the former minister's daughter.
In the Sujangarh constituency, Congress' Manoj Meghwal will fight BJP leader and former minister Khemaram Meghwal. Bhanwarlal Meghwal, the former representative of the Sujangarh constituency, died of a brain stroke in November last year.
The state has a 200-member assembly in which the ruling Congress has 104 MLAs, BJP 72, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) three, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Bhartiya Tribal Party two each. There are 13 independent MLAs and four seats are vacant. The date of by-polls for the fourth vacant seat, Vallabhnagar, has not been announced yet.
Voting will end at 6pm on Saturday and counting of votes will be held on May 2.
