Rajasthan assembly elections: Exit polls predict Congress win in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: Fates of several senior leaders, including chief minister Vasundhara Raje, former CM Ashok Gehlot and PCC president Sachin Pilot, were sealed as the polling for the 199 out of 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan ended on Friday evening.

A turnout above 74% was recorded until 8pm. The figure is likely to go up as more than three lakh voters queued up in over 5000 polling booths across the state after 5pm. “The polling percentage is likely to increase,” Anand Kumar, chief electoral officer, Rajasthan, told TOI.

In 2013 assembly elections, the turnout was a little over 75%.

Meanwhile, exit polls released on Friday predicted clear wins for the Congress in Rajasthan and TRS in Telangana and a hung assembly in Mizoram, but presented a confused picture in MP and Chhattisgarh. That left open till December 11, the day the official results will be announced, the question of what impact this round of assembly elections could have on the 2019 general elections in terms of shaping perception.

If Congress comes to power in Rajasthan, it will continue its two-decade-old tradition of voting out the ruling party.

Highest polling recorded in Jaisalmer’s Pokhran

PCC chief Sachin Pilot wasted no time in claiming that Congress was forming the next government with a “huge majority”.

Raje countered Pilot’s claim, saying, “People in the state have voted for vikas ensuring that BJP gets clear majority. They have voted for vision and good governance of PM Narendra Modi, leadership of BJP president Amit Shah and the development works done by the BJP government in the state. The December 11 results will prove this.”

On Friday, the highest turnout above 87% was reported from Pokhran in Jaisalmer district, where BJP candidate Pratap Puri is a Hindu saint while Congress nominee Shale Mohammad is son of a Muslim seer.

The lowest turnout of 60% was reported from Marwar Junction and Sumerpur in Pali district. PM Modi had addressed a rally at Sumerpur on December 5. Shah, too, had campaigned in the district, considered an RSS stronghold.

Reports of EVM malfunctioning and names missing in the voter list came from across the state. Polling had to be stopped for over an hour at Triveni Nagar under Jaipur’s Sanganer assembly seat due to EVM snag. The seat is locked in triangular contest between BJP candidate and city mayor Ashok Lahoty, Congress’ student leader Pushpendra Bhardwaj and former BJP leader Ghanshyam Tiwari, who floated his own outfit, Bharat Vahini Party.

The polling was largely peaceful, barring stray violence. Three persons were injured when security forces opened fire on villagers outside a polling booth at Pilwa under Mundawar assembly seat in Alwar, said NRK Reddy, ADG, Law and Order. Alwar had witnessed cow vigilantism in the past threefour years.

In Sikar’s Fatehpur, a motorcycle was set ablaze following clashes between Congress and BJP workers. Congress and RBLP men clashed at the Sikar Municipal Board polling booth.

Sikar BJP president Vishnu Chetani accused Congress candidate and former cabinet minister Rajendra Pareek of beating party’s poll agent Mahendra Saini along with the chairman of Sikar Nagar Parishad Jeevan Khan at a polling booth. Saini suffered head injuries and was admitted to hospital.

Violence was reported from Kumher and Nagar assembly segments in Bharatpur, which too witnessed violence by cow vigilantes in recent years. Police said Congress workers objected to Nagar BJP MLA Anita Gurjar’s gunman accompanying her to the polling both at Sariya village. At Lati village under Pokhran seat in Barmer district, the police lathicharged to disperse rampaging BJP and Congress workers.

At least 51,687 polling booths were set up for the elections. The election in Ramgarh constituency of Alwar was put off following the death of BSP candidate Laxman Singh.

Raje is contesting against Manvendra Singh, son of former foreign minister Jaswant Singh, in Jhalrapatan. She has been representing the constituency since 2003. Manvendra quit BJP to join Congress before the election, making it a tough fight for Raje.

Tonk, with a sizeable Muslim population, is set for a keen contest between PCC chief Sachin Pilot and BJP’s only Muslim candidate Yoonus Khan. Initially, BJP had fielded MLA Ajit Singh Mehta in Tonk, but later named Khan’s candidature. For two-time MP Pilot, this is his maiden assembly election. Pilot is a chief ministerial probable if Congress wins.

In 130 constituencies, it is mainly bipolar contest between BJP and Congress. In rest of the seats, BSP, AAP and Independents may play role. Congress left five seats for its allies.

In the current House, BJP has 156 seats and Congress 25.