Stray incidents of violence and malfunctioning EVMs mar polling in the State
Over 74% of the 4.74 crore voters in Rajasthan exercised their franchise in the Assembly election on Friday, amid reports of stray incidents of violence and malfunctioning of electronic voting machines at several polling stations. The highest turnout of 87.48% was recorded in Pokhran in Jaisalmer district. Polling was held in 199 of the 200 constituencies. The election to the Ramgarh seat in Alwar district was countermanded under Section 52 of the Representation of the People Act following the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh on November 29.
Voter resentment
The Congress is counting on the anti-incumbency factor to win, with the ruling BJP facing a major challenge in retaining public support for its policies despite the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh helping mobilise its cadre. The high polling percentage could be an indication of the resentment among the people. There were reports of some EVMs developing snags, which delayed voting in a few polling booths. The voters protested against the slow speed of polling at a booth in the Sanganeri Gate area of Jaipur.
Votes were cast at 51,687 polling booths, 259 of which were managed by all-women staff.
Miscreants torched motorcycles and threw stones in the Fatehpur constituency of Sikar district, leading to the stoppage of polling for half an hour.
Bid to capture booth
An attempt at booth capturing was made at Nadbai in Bharatpur. Two were arrested on charges of disrupting the polling.
In other isolated incidents, three persons were injured in a clash between the supporters of the BJP and Congress candidates at Deeg in Bharatpur, while a vehicle taking the voters to a polling station at Bajju in Bikaner district was set on fire. The Congress candidate from Bansur, Shakuntala Rawat, was allegedly attacked by some persons, but the security personnel controlled the situation. Indo-Tibetan Border Police jawans posted at a polling booth at Shahjahanpur in Alwar lathi-charged a crowd which gathered after a man was stopped taking a video on his cellphone inside the booth. The pace of polling was slow in most places in the morning, but picked up in the afternoon, with long queues in several towns. In some remote areas, voting continued after 5 p.m. as many were already in the queue. Apart from Ms. Raje, against whom the Congress has fielded Rajput leader Manvendra Singh, the BJP heavyweights include Rural Development Minister Rajendra Rathore in Churu, former BJP State president Ashok Parnami from Adarsh Nagar in Jaipur and Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria in Udaipur. In the Congress camp, State unit president Sachin Pilot is contesting for the first time in Tonk, while former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is the party candidate in his home turf of Sardarpura in Jodhpur. Leader of the Opposition and Jat leader Rameshwar Dudi is contesting the Nokha seat and former Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal the Kota seat. In the 2013 Assembly election, the BJP won 163 seats and the Congress 21 with a record turnout of 75.04%.
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/74-turn-out-in-rajasthan/article25694620.ece
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