NEW DELHI, Nov 25: An estimated 70 per cent voters turned out to cast their votes in the elections to the Rajasthan state Assembly on Saturday. The state is witnessing a bipolar contest involving the Congress and the BJP to elect the new state government.
The polls were by and large peaceful barring some stone pelting and clashes reported from some areas in Sikar, Dholpur and Deeg districts. In Sanwler village of Kaman in Deeg district, two persons including a policeman were injured in stone-pelting forcing police to fire in the air. “Police fired 12 rounds in the air to disperse the crowd. Voting was disrupted for a few minutes due to the incident,” Deeg Superintendent of Police (SP) Brijesh Upadhyay said.
About half-a-dozen people were detained in Sikar and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) teams were deployed after stone pelting between two groups in the area, said Sikar SP Paris Deshmukh. The situation was under control, he added.
Stone pelting was also reported from Dholpur and Bari District Magistrate Anil Kumar Agarwal denied there was any private firing. “The polling booths are absolutely safe. Some personal vehicles have been damaged. The atmosphere is peaceful now,” he said.
Two people – a polling agent of a candidate and an elderly voter – died of cardiac arrest at polling booths in Pali and Udaipur districts. Polling at over 51,000 booths in 199 assembly constituencies began at 7 am and concluded at 6 pm.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and several other leaders appealed to the people of Rajasthan to vote in large numbers. In their interactions with the media, the leaders expressed confidence that their respective parties would get the mandate of the people.
(Manas Dasgupta)