Rajasthan witnessed a high voter turnout of around 65% in the four constituencies where bypolls were held on Saturday. Polling was largely peaceful though the Congress lodged some complaints against BJP MLAs of misusing the government machinery and violating the code of conduct.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Govind Sharma said the poling percentage stood at 66.4%. He said around 15 complaints were received but by and large the polls were peaceful.
Surajgarh in Jhunjhunu district and Nasirabad in Ajmer district recorded heavy voter turnout of around 70% while polling in Weir in Bharatpur and Kota (South) constituencies was much lower at around 62%.
Both the BJP and Congress see the turnout going in their favour. BJP leaders said the high percentage showed that people had come out to vote for them while the Congress maintained it showed people’s dissatisfaction with the government.
In Kota, Congress and BJP workers entered into a scuffle when Congressmen objected to the presence of an outsider BJP MLA from Karanpur (Sriganganagar) Surendra Pal Singh TT near a polling booth. Congress also complained that several BJP MLAs were seen in the constituency in violation of the code of conduct.
In Ajmer, Congress complained against Anita Bhadel MLA from Ajmer South for campaigning in a Nasirabad locality in violation of the model code of conduct.