Jaipur, Nov 24 (UNI) Voting for 199 out of 200 seats in Rajasthan Assembly will be held amidst tight security arrangements on Saturday for which all preparations have been completed, an Election Commission officer said here on Friday.
According to the Election Commission officer, the polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm and 5,26,90,146 voters are eligible to decide the fate of more than 1,860 candidates in the fray for the 199 seats.
All preparations for fair and peaceful voting have been completed and polling teams have reached the polling stations.
It may be noted that due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Kooner from Karanpur assembly constituency in Ganganagar district, the election in this assembly segment has been postponed.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Praveen Gupta said that polling will be held at 51,507 polling stations set up at 36,101 polling centers across the state. He said that while 10,501 polling stations have been set up in urban areas, 41,006 will be in the rural areas
Gupta said that in order to conduct free, fair and peaceful election, 6,287 micro-observers and 6,247 sector officers and reserves have been appointed, who will immediately resolve any kind of problem by continuously coordinating with the polling parties.
The CEO said that 2,74,846 polling officers have been deployed for voting. While 7,960 female polling personnel will manage pink polling stations, 796 disabled polling personnel will take command at disabled managed polling stations.
He said that 1,02,290 security personnel, including CAPF, have been deployed to ensure peaceful voting.
Gupta said that 69,114 policemen along with 32,876 Home Guards, Forest Guard and RAC personnel and 700 companies of CAPF have been deployed.
He said that in order to conduct free and fair election, three flying squads and three SST teams will be deployed in each assembly constituency for intensive investigation and monitoring on the voting day.
The CEO said that at least three Quick Response Teams (QRTs) will be deployed at each polling station. He said that the 4,850 kilometer long interstate border with Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab will be sealed and intensive checking would be done to prevent the entry of outsiders.
Along with the ruling Congress, candidates of the main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLPA), Aam Aadmi Party, Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), Communist Party of India, Marxist (CPI-M), Bharat Adivasi Party, Jannayak Janta Party from about 80 parties including Bharatiya Tribal Party and around 730 independent candidates are in the fray.
Prominent candidates of the ruling Congress, include Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, state president Govind Singh Dotasara, Assembly Speaker CP Joshi, former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot, Ministers Shanti Dhariwal, BD Kalla, Bhajan Lal Jatav, Vishvendra Singh, Bhanwar. Singh Bhati, Saleh Mohammad, Mamta Bhupesh, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Rajendra Singh Yadav, Shakuntala Rawat, Uday Lal Anjana, Ram Lal Jat, Mahendrajit Singh Malviya and Ashok Chandna.
Similarly, this time many Congress MLAs are also trying their electoral luck again. The party has fielded around 100 sitting MLAs.
Among prominent BJP candidates, former CM Vasundhara Raje, Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, Deputy Leader of Opposition Dr Satish Poonia, MP Diya Kumari, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Baba Balaknath, Kirori Lal Meena and Devji Patel and former Union Minister Subhash Mahariya are also trying their luck.
Apart from these, RLPA convenor and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal is also contesting the assembly election from Khinvsar. RLPA has entered into an electoral alliance with Chandrashekhar Azad led Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) and both are contesting 124 seats together.
While BJP is contesting on 199 seats, Congress has fielded 198 candidates and has left one seat Bharatpur for its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) from where Minister Subhash Garg is contesting.
