Rajasthan Polls 2023: More than 68 percent voting took place till 5 pm on Saturday for 199 assembly seats in Rajasthan. The main contest in the state is between Congress and BJP. Leaders of both the parties have expressed hope of getting mandate for their respective parties. According to officials, voting was peaceful except for sporadic incidents of violence. In the 2018 assembly elections, the total voting percentage in the state was 74.06 percent. Leaders of the ruling Congress and the main opposition BJP, while talking to the media during the day, expressed confidence that their party will get the mandate. Chief Minister Gehlot said in Jodhpur that there is no anti-incumbency wave against Congress and the party will form the government again in the state. “It seems like there is an ‘undercurrent’,” he said. It seems that the (Congress) government will be formed again.
BJP-Congress claimed victory
Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, while talking to journalists in Jhalawar, took a dig at Gehlot’s ‘undercurrent’ statement and said, “I agree with him.” There is indeed an ‘undercurrent’ but it is in favor of the BJP. Lotus (BJP’s election symbol) will bloom on December 3. Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said in Jodhpur, “BJP is coming to power with a huge majority. This time people will vote keeping in mind the crimes against women, paper leaks and corruption committed during the five-year rule of Congress. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and many other leaders addressed the people of Rajasthan. Appealed to vote in large numbers.
Veterans also voted
During the voting, Governor Kalraj Mishra, Chief Minister Gehlot, Union Ministers Shekhawat and Kailash Chaudhary, former Chief Minister Raje and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot also cast their votes. Gehlot and Shekhawat voted in Jodhpur, Chaudhary in Balotra, Raje in Jhalawar and Pilot in Jaipur. BJP state president CP Joshi exercised his franchise in Chittorgarh and party MPs Diya Kumari and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore voted in Jaipur. Kumari and Rathore are among the seven BJP MPs who are contesting the assembly elections. Officials said that till 5 pm, 68.24 percent voting took place. However, at many places there are still voters in booth premises whose final vote percentage will be known only after casting their votes.
Voting boycott and violence were also seen during the elections.
Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said that as per the guidelines issued by the Election Commission, all the voters who reached the booth premises by 6 o’clock will be allowed to cast their vote. However, no new person will be allowed to enter the booth premises after six o’clock. Officials said that during the voting, while villagers in one village boycotted voting, minor clashes broke out between supporters of different candidates in some parts. Charwali village of Pindwara Abu constituency of Sirohi district boycotted the voting. An official said the villagers’ demand is to change their gram panchayat and construction of a ‘service road’ along the highway near their village. There are 890 voters in the village. Officials tried to persuade them to vote.
An agent of a political party died on Saturday in Pali district of Rajasthan. According to officials, Agent Shanti Lal probably died due to heart failure. According to officials, Shanti Lal was an agent of a political party at booth number 47 in Sumerpur constituency and he collapsed there. 62-year-old voter Satyendra Arora died of a heart attack at a polling booth in Udaipur. Arora collapsed at the polling booth. Family members took him to the nearest hospital where doctors declared him dead. Similarly, stone pelting took place in Fatehpur of Sikar after a clash between two groups. Police said that this incident happened near a polling booth. Police Station Officer Indraj Singh said that a policeman was injured in stone pelting between two parties at booth number 128.
clash between two groups
There was a clash between two groups of supporters of two candidates in Bari seat of Dholpur. Dholpur District Magistrate Anil Kumar Aggarwal said, “There was an argument between an election agent and another person following which stone pelting and scuffle took place outside the polling booth. Two vehicles were damaged. Voting was stopped for some time which was later resumed.” “Started from.” At the same time, there was a fight between two parties in Fatehpur also. Fatehpur Deputy Superintendent of Police Ram Pratap said, “Stone pelting took place outside the polling booth. A soldier was injured in the stone pelting. No civilian was injured. Five-seven people have been detained.”
Police opened fire
Two people including a policeman were injured in stone pelting in Sawaler village of Kaman in Deeg district. To disperse the crowd, the police fired 12 bullets in the air. Deeg Superintendent of Police Brijesh Upadhyay said that voting was disrupted for a few minutes due to the incident. At the same time, 40-50 people tried to enter the election booth in Uniara of Tonk district. Superintendent of Police Rajarshi Raj said that the situation was, however, brought under control. A lot of enthusiasm was seen among the voters regarding voting.
Newly married couple cast their vote
A newly married couple reached Srimadhopur in Sikar to cast their vote. He got married yesterday. In Chittorgarh, a bed-ridden voter was brought to the polling booth on a stretcher. ‘Selfie points’ were set up at polling stations across the state where people – especially young voters – took selfies. There are a total of 200 seats in the state but the elections for Karanpur seat in Ganganagar district have been postponed after the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Kunnar.