About 72.7% voters exercised their franchise by 5 pm. While voting figures expected to rise as long queues hit at many polling booths. According to the state electoral office in Jaipur, From 8 am till 5 pm the voting percentage was 72.7 percent. Long queues of voters were reported at polling booths since morning. EVM malfunctioning delayed polling at many places as a result people had to wait for hours to cast their votes.
Authorities have set-up 51,687 polling booths in 199 out of the total 200 assembly constituencies. While the voting in Alwar’s Ramgarh is postponed in the wake of the death of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Laxman Singh.
Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot and other leaders were among the early voters who exercised their franchise.
Raje (Jhalrapatan), Pilot (Tonk), former chief minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura) are among the 2,274 candidates in the fray. While Raje is facing a tough fight with Mananvendra Singh, Sachin Pilot is facing a lone Muslim face from BJP Camp, Younus Khan in a Muslim-dominated constituency of Tonk.
This is a maiden assembly election for Pilot, a two-time MP who is seen as a chief ministerial candidate if the Congress wins.
He has represented Dausa and Ajmer Lok Sabha constituencies in the past.
EVM snags reported at Triveni Nagar under Sanganeer seat in Jaipur, at booth number 89 under Jhunjhunu the polling was delayed over an hour due to the error in EVM after which the SDO ordered the shifting of booth level officer.
Rajasthan Assembly Polls appears to be mainly between the BJP and the Congress. While BSP, AAP, and independents have made the contest multi-cornered at some constituencies.
The results will be out on December 11, along with other four states assembly elections have been held in the past few weeks.