Voting started on a dull note on Monday for the bypolls in Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha constituencies and Mandalgarh Assembly seat, which are being viewed as a 'semifinal' ahead of the Rajasthan Assembly polls later this year.
An average voter turnout of 5.35 per cent was recorded in the first two hours of voting.
Alwar recorded 5.42 per cent voter turnout and Ajmer recorded 5.25 per cent voting while the voter turnout in Mandalgarh Assembly constituency was 6.42 per cent, according to the office of the chief electoral officer.
There are 39,02,168 voters and 41 candidates in these three constituencies.
EVM machines with photos of candidates affixed them are being used for the polling.
There are 11 candidates in the fray in Alwar seat, 23 in Ajmer and 8 candidates in Mandalgarh Assembly constituency.
Counting of votes will take place on February 1.
The BJP has fielded Labour Minister Jaswant Singh Yadav and former union minister Sanwar Lal Jat's son Ramswaroop Lamba as its candidates for Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha seats, respectively, while Shakti Singh Hada is contesting bypolls as the BJP candidate from Mandalgarh Assembly constituency in Bhilwara district.
The Congress has fielded Vivek Dhakad as its candidate in Mandalgarh Assembly constituency, former MLA Raghu Sharma on Ajmer Lok Sabha seat and Karan Singh Yadav in Alwar Lok Sabha constituency.
The bypolls have been necessitated due to the deaths of Ajmer MP Sanwar Lal Jat, Alwar MP Chand Nath and Mandalgarh MLA Kirti Kumari (all of BJP) last year.
Sanwar Lal Jat suffered a cardiac arrest during a party meeting in Jaipur, which was being addressed by party president Amit Shah in July, and died in August last year.
Mahant Chand Nath died in September after prolonged illness while Mandalgarh MLA Kirti Kumari died in August due to illness.
2 Bypolls in West Bengal
Voting in the bypolls in Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency and Noapara Assembly seat in West Bengal started amid tight security on Monday.
Both the seats are likely to witness a direct contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP, even as the CPI(M) is trying hard to hold its ground in its erstwhile bastions.
The elections were necessitated following the deaths of Sultan Ahmed, the sitting TMC MP from Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency in Howrah district, and Madhusudan Ghose, Congress MLA from Noapara assembly seat in North 24 Parganas district.
The TMC, which had held the Uluberia seat since 2009, has fielded Sultan Ahmed's wife Sajda this time. The CPI(M)-led Left Front had nominated Sabiruddin Molla whereas the Congress has fielded S.K. Madassar Hossain Warsi.
The BJP is the only party to field a Hindu candidate, Anupam Mallik, from the seat. Five other independents are also in the fray from the Lok Sabha constituency.
In Noapara, the TMC has fielded Sunil Singh, the CPI(M) Gargi Chatterjee. Goutam Bose of the Congress and Sandip Banerjee of the BJP are the other contestants from the seat.
Uluberia is one of the Lok Sabha seats in the state with nearly 40 per cent Muslim population. The RSS and the BJP made inroads into the constituency following a communal flare-up at Dhulagarh, around 16km from Uluberia, in 2016.
Counting of votes for the bypolls in both states will take place on February 1.
