Over 64 pc voter turnout recorded on 13 seats in 2nd phase polls in Rajasthan

Jaipur, Apr 26 (PTI) The total voter turnout of the two phases of the Lok Sabha polls on all the 25 seats of Rajasthan has tentatively been recorded at 61.60 per cent, which is about 4.47 per cent less than the 2019 elections.
     In the 2014 general elections, the voter turnout was recorded at 63.02 per cent in the border state.
     In the second phase of polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state on Friday, 64.6 per cent turnout was recorded, according to the latest figures from the Election Commission.
     The final voter turnout will be released on Saturday, an official said.
     Polling had taken place in the first phase on April 19 for the other 12 parliamentary constituencies in the state, which sends 25 representatives to Parliament.
     The by-election for the Bagidora assembly constituency in Banswara district was also held simultaneously on Friday. According to the latest figures, about 77 per cent voting took place in the constituency.
     The Bagidora assembly seat in Banswara fell vacant after Congress MLA Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya switched over to the BJP. Malviya is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Banswara as a BJP candidate.
     Barring a few confrontations and complaints of fake voting in Barmer-Jaisalmer, polling was peaceful, the officials said.
     According to the official data, 64.6 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the 13 constituencies of Barmer-Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Jalore, Chittorgarh, Banswara, Kota-Bundi, Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Udaipur, Rajsamand, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran.
     In a statement, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said the voting percentage has increased in Kota and Barmer Lok Sabha constituencies as compared to the 2019 polls.
     In Kota, the voter turnout in the year 2019 was 70.22 per cent, which has increased to 71.42 per cent. In the Barmer Lok Sabha constituency, 73.3 per cent voting was recorded in 2019, which has increased to 74.25 per cent this time.
     Among other constituencies in the 2024 polls, polling was recorded at 60.10 per cent in Bhilwara, 67.83 in Chittorgarh, 62.28 in Jalore, 68.72 in Jhalawar-Baran, 63.30 in Jodhpur, 70.82 in Kota, 58.01 in Rajsamand, 56 in Tonk Sawai-Madhopur, 64.01 in Udaipur and 56.80 in Pali.
     Around 2.8 crore voters were eligible to vote in the second phase of the polls.
     Voting began at 7 am and ended at 6 pm.
     Those who reached the polling booths and were standing in queue by 6 pm were allowed to vote.
     Enthusiasm was seen among the people who lined up at the polling booths to cast votes.
     In Kota-Bundi parliamentary area, voting continued at pace till noon. In Banswara, no voter reached the Adibheet polling booth during the initial hours. The locals have certain demands regarding compensation against land acquired for a power plant and have declared to boycott the elections.
     The officials said they tried to convince the voters to exercise their franchise.
     In the first two hours of the voting, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who is contesting from Kota-Bundi, BJP state president C P Joshi contesting from Chittorgarh and Union minister and BJP candidate from Jodhpur Gajendra Singh Shekhawat cast their votes.
     Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani cast his vote in Ajmer while former chief ministers Vasundhara Raje and Ashok Gehlot exercised their franchise in Jhalawar and Jodhpur respectively.
     A 108-year-old woman, Bhuri Bai, cast her vote at the Gunjara polling booth in the Kota-Bundi constituency. She was brought to the polling booth in a wheelchair by her family members.
     A man, his son and granddaughters, representing three generations, reached a polling station at Sankand in Jalore to cast votes. They also took pictures at the selfie point in the booth.
     A groom, Radhe Suthar, cast his vote at Bhadsoda in Chittorgarh before going for his wedding procession. Suthar told reporters that it is important to exercise franchise in a democracy, so he spared time to cast a vote before his marriage function.
     There were a few complaints during the polling. Jodhpur IG Vikas Kumar, who was at Barmer, said polling was affected for a few minutes after complaints of fake voting were received from some places outside the polling booths. However, the polling was by and large peaceful, he said.
     Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said strong law and order arrangements were made for free, fair and transparent elections. Voting was conducted by 3,28,515 officers and employees in the state. He said a total of 1,59,449 security personnel were put on duty to ensure peaceful voting. Along with Rajasthan Police personnel, Home Guards, Forest Guards and RAC personnel were deployed.
     He said that 5,35,08,010 voters are registered across the state under the Lok Sabha general elections. There are a total of 266 candidates for all the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state. There were 247 men and 19 women that were in the fray.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)