Rajasthan records over 26% voter turnout in 13 constituencies till 11 am

Polling picked up in the initial hours in the 13 Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan where elections are being held in the second phase on Friday.

Nearly 27 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across the 13 parliamentary constituencies and one assembly seat in Rajasthan where a bypoll is underway.

26.84 percent voter turnout was recorded in the Lok Sabha seats and 31 per cent in the Bagidora assembly constituency by 11 am, according to official data.

The voting percentage in the first four hours in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls is above that of the first phase.

The polling percentage in 12 Lok Sabha seats that went to polls on April 19 was 22.51 per cent by this time.

Around 2.8 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase of the polls. This is the final phase of polling in Rajasthan.

Voting is underway in Barmer-Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Jalore, Chittorgarh, Banswara, Kota-Bundi, Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Udaipur, Rajsamand, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran, along with the Bagidora Assembly constituency where a bypoll is underway.

The highest voter turnout of 30.04 percent was recorded in the tribal dominated Banswara-Dungarpur seat, followed by Barmer where 29.58 per cent electors cast votes by 11 am.

Tonk-Sawai Madhopur recorded the lowest turnout of 24 per cent in the first four hours, according to official data.

Voting percentage in other constituencies till 11 am stood at 24.43 in Ajmer, 25.15 in Bhilwara, 26.48 in Chittorgarh, 28.50 in Jalore, 28.88 in Jhalawar, 25.75 in Jodhpur, 28.30 in Kota, 24.62 in Pali, 25.58 in Rajsamand and 27.46 in Udaipur.

Enthusiasm was seen among the people who lined up at the polling booths to cast votes.

However, in Banswara, no voter reached the Adibheet polling booth by 11 am. The locals have certain demands regarding compensation against land acquired for a power plant and have declared to boycott the elections.

The officials said are trying 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 CP Joshi, BJP candidate from Chittorgarh, 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.

108-year-old Bhuri Bai cast her vote at Gunjara polling booth in Kota-Bundi LS constituency. She was brought to the polling booth in a wheelchair by the 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 democracy, so he spared time to cast vote before his marriage function.

Voting for 12 seats in the desert state was held in the first phase on April 19.

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.