Approximately 74.13% voter turnout was recorded in Rajasthan on Saturday in the primarily direct contest between the Congress and the BJP to form a new government in the state, according to the latest data from the Election Commission. It was slightly above the 74.06% voter turnout recorded in the 2018 assembly polls.
Polling at more than 51,000 polling booths in 199 assembly constituencies began at 7 am and ended at 6 pm, but officials said those already in the queue at the polling booths were allowed to vote. The votes will be counted on December 3.
Voting began at 7 am, with a slow start and a little below 10% turnout by 9 am, gradually increasing to about 25% by 11 am, 40% by 1 pm, and 56% at 3 pm. Pokaran assembly seat recorded the highest polling at 81.1%, followed by Tijara at 80.9%. The lowest was in Marwar Junction at 57.4%, followed by Sumerpur at 57.8%.
In some polling stations in Adarsh Nagar, Kishanpole, and Hawa Mahal, voters faced slow voting, waiting for 2-3 hours to cast their votes. Some voters couldn’t vote as their names were missing from the voters’ list. A voter in Adarsh Nagar alleged that at least 12 members of her family could not vote. “We have our house here, but we don’t stay here anymore. We have shifted to Kunda in Amber. But we haven’t registered our names there (in Amber),” said Razia Banu.
The elections in the Sriganganagar’s Karanpur seat were adjourned due to the death of Congress candidate, Gurmeet Singh Koonar, who was also the sitting MLA.
The EC’s endeavor to ensure inclusive elections seemed successful, with a significant turnout from women, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and among tribal groups like Sahariya. Leveraging the EC’s home-voting facility, nearly 99% of the enrolled senior citizens and persons with a 40% benchmark disability exercised their franchise. Women and young voters actively participated, encouraged by initiatives such as polling stations managed by women, all-youth staff, and those run by persons with disabilities.
The EC had made elaborate arrangements to ensure smooth polling with more than 1.70 lakh security personnel being deployed across the state. A total of 5,26,90,146 voters are registered in the state, while 1,862 candidates are in the fray.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot exercised their franchise at their respective polling booths.
Among all the constituencies, all the eyes are on Sardarpura, Tonk, Jhalarapatan, Nathdwara, Jhunjhunu, Jhotwara, and Churu, among others. Sardarpura is on the list of key constituencies as Gehlot has won this seat since 1998. The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Mahendra Singh Rathore from the Congress’ bastion. The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate and former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje are contesting from Jhalarapatan. The party’s heavyweight has been winning the seat since 2003 from here.
