Jaipur, Apr 19 (PTI) A voter turnout of close to 55 per cent was recorded in 12 parliamentary constituencies of Rajasthan where polling was held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday.
The election authorities said 54.97 per cent of the electorate cast their votes. The final figures would be released later.
The highest voter turnout of 62.93 per cent was recorded in the Ganganagar Lok Sabha seat while Jhunjhunu saw the lowest turnout of 47.98 per cent, it said. Jaipur recorded a poll percentage of 61.23. The voting percentage in Bikaner was 52.53, Churu 61.05, Sikar 55.06, Jaipur Rural 54.44, Alwar 55.82, Dausa 49.57, Bharatpur 50.97 and Nagaur 56.89.
As many as 114 candidates are in the fray in the first phase of polling that began at 7 am in the state and ended at 6 pm. There are 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan and the remaining 13 will go to poll in the second phase on April 26.
Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and other leaders cast their votes in the initial hours. Mishra and his wife Satyawati Mishra cast their votes at a polling booth in C Scheme.
“Voting is not only a constitutional right but also the duty of every citizen of India. This strengthens democracy,” the governor said later.
The chief minister exercised his franchise at a polling station of Patnik Jagatpura and expressed confidence that the NDA will win over 400 seats across the country in this general election. He said people of the state were voting for ‘guarantees’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On the other hand, Pilot said people want change and this election was going to be for change in the country.
“The BJP had a long tenure of 10 years. Now people are bored and I am convinced that the Congress will win more seats than the BJP in Rajasthan. We will win across the country and the INDIA bloc will get a majority,” he told reporters after casting his vote.
Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari also cast her vote in this phase.
Former BJP state president Satish Poonia cast his vote at a polling booth in Rani Sati Nagar in Jaipur during the day.
Elderly citizens and some newly married couples were also seen at the polling booths.
Shivani, a resident of Dampura village in Dholpur district, reached her polling booth before entering the wedlock. Dressed in bridal attire, she also took a selfie at a ‘selfie point’ after casting her vote.
In Jaipur, a 95-year-old retired naval officer reached a polling station with his family members to vote. He said although he could have chosen the ‘voting from home’ option, he preferred to cast his vote at a polling station.
Newlywed Rohit and Sonia Chaudhary went to a polling station in Jaipur’ Purani Basti to cast their votes. They got married on Thursday night.
Rajasthan Director General of Police Utkal Ranjan Sahoo said tight security arrangements have been made for free, fair and peaceful voting. The Rajasthan Police, along with companies of the Central Armed Forces and Home Guard personnel, has been deployed to maintain peace and law and order.
According to Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta, a total of 2.54 crore people are eligible to vote in the first phase and around 23,000 polling booths have been set up in this phase. PTI AG SDA NSD NSD
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