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Over 64% of voters cast their ballot in the second and final phase of Lok Sabha election in 13 of the 25 constituencies in Rajasthan on Friday. As many as 152 candidates are in the fray in the second phase in the State. The highest voter turnout of 73.68% was recorded in the Barmer seat, followed by 72.24% in Banswara, while the average turnout in the State was registered at 64.02%.
The desert State polled 58.28% votes in the first phase of election on April 19, while the overall turnout was 63.71% in 2019. The polling on Friday was brisk in most of the constituencies, where long queues of voters were seen outside the booths since early morning. The Lok Sabha seats which went to polls were situated in western, south-eastern and southern parts of the State.
The candidates in the second phase polling included Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Kailash Choudhary, BJP State president C.P. Joshi and former Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi. Former Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Vasundhara Raje campaigned for their sons in Jalore and Jhalawar-Baran, respectively.
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma said the high polling percentage recorded in the second phase in the State would go in favour of the BJP. “The people in Rajasthan have cast their ballot to express their disapproval of appeasement and corruption. They have exercised their franchise to bring development to the State and the country with the faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Mr. Sharma told journalists here.
Booth capturing charge
The supporters of independent candidate Ravindra Singh Bhati and Congress candidate Ummeda Ram Beniwal clashed at Sheo in Barmer district over the allegations of booth capturing. Mr. Bhati, who represents Sheo in the Assembly, alleged that tapes had been pasted to hide his name printed on the electronic voting machines. The polling was halted for half-an-hour after the clash.
Voters did not turn up to exercise their franchise at Aadibhit village in Banswara because of a dispute over the plans to establish a nuclear power plant. Villagers at Dhurasani in Pali district and Balwanta in Ajmer boycotted the polling citing water crisis and poor condition of roads.
Octogenarian dies
An 80-year-old man, identified as Chhagan Lal, who was standing in the queue of voters in Bhilwara district’s Pur town, collapsed after feeling dizzy and died before he could cast his ballot. A 108-year-old woman, Bhuri Bai, came on a wheelchair to the polling station in Loda Hera village of Kota district to exercise her franchise.
Voting was held in Ajmer, Banswara, Bhilwara, Barmer, Chittorgarh, Jalore, Jodhpur, Jhalawar-Baran, Kota, Pali, Rajsamand, Tonk-Sawai Madhopur and Udaipur Lok Sabha constituencies. Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said about 2.80 crore people were eligible to vote in the second phase, for which a total of 28,758 polling booths were set up.
