Lok Sabha elections 2019: Polling peaceful in state; 63.78% turnout

Rajasthan recorded 63.78% voting in 12 Lok Sabha constituencies that went to the polls in the fifth phase of polling on Monday. Voting was largely peaceful with minor skirmishes and reports of glitches in the electronic voting machines (EVMS) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines.

Chief Electoral Officer Anand Kumar said 63.78% voting had been recorded till polls closed at

6pm. But since people in the polling booths were still casting votes, the finally poll percentage would be available only by Tuesday, said Kumar.

At 74.33%, S rig an gan agar han um an ga rh constituency saw the highest polling with the lowest voting recorded in the Dholpur-karauli seats at 55%.

Kumar said the polling percentage for all 25 Lok Sabha seats as of now was 66.12% while in 2014 the percentage was 63.11%. He said in 2014, repoll was held in five constituencies but till now there was no repolling scheduled.

Despite temperatures in mid40s in most constituencies, voters turned out in large numbers to vote. Veera Singh, a 114-year-old resident of Raisinghnagar in Sriganganagar district, reached the polling station to vote this morning. Gangaram, 104, and 102-yearold Gurdayal Kaur exercised their franchise in Jaipur and Suratgarh town of Sriganganagar district respectively.

“It shows their dedication towards fulfilling their responsibility towards democracy and they are an inspiration for young generation,” said Kumar.

An officer of the state election department said malfunctions were reported in 30 ballot units,

30 control units and 109 VVPATS across the state and these were replaced immediately.

Deaths of three polling personnel were reported, one each from Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Alwar districts, he said.

In the 12 constituencies that went to polls, there were 23,17,9623 eligible voters of which 12,253,616 were males and 10,925,883 were females and 125 were transgenders. The number of first time voters stood at 7 lakh. There were 23, 783 polling stations of which 18,596 were rural and 5187 were urban.

In 2014, the polling percentage in these 12 constituencies was 61.80%. In the first phase of polling in Rajasthan on April 29, the voter turnout stood at 68.17%.

Director general of police, law and order ML Lather said, “Except minor incidents in Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Bikaner, polling were peaceful.” He added that some BJP members alleged Congress MP candidate from Sikar Subhash Maharia of beating up a party worker and four persons had been detained.

More than 63,000 security personnel, including 150 companies of central armed police forces and 11,250 constables were deployed across state to ensure peaceful voting, Lather added.

There were reports of boycott by voters in Bharatpur and Karauli districts. In Bharatpur, around 1300 voters in three colonies refused to vote citing administration apathy over their demand for concrete roads, water and a school for children. Eventually collector Arushi Malik convinced voters.

Similarly, villagers of Nagla Deshwal in Nagar assembly constituency of Bharatpur district did not go out to vote over demand for water. However, polling resumed after an official assured villagers. In Karauli, voters in Khuda Chainpura village boycotted polling demanding construction of roads

Among the 12 seats that went to polls today, Jaipur Rural and Nagaur are seeing tight contests. Interesting battles are also expected on Bikaner, Dausa and Dholpur-karauli seats.

In Jaipur Rural, BJP MP candidate and Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore is up against Congress candidate and MLA Krishna Poonia.

BJP left the Nagaur seat for its ally, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party. Hanuman Beniwal, founder of the party is contesting against Jyoti Mirdha of the Congress. Mirdha, a two-time MP and granddaughter of veteran Jat leader Nathuram Mirdha, is trying to save the legacy of the Mirdha family while Beniwal is trying to emerge as the Jat leader in the state.

In the last general election, the BJP won all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan. In Assembly poll, the Congress bagged 100 out of the 200 seats and the BJP got 73.

First Published: May 07, 2019 15:04 IST