68.74% voting in Rajasthan by-election till 3 p.m.

A total of 68.74 per cent of votes were cast on Monday in the Ramgarh Assembly constituency in Rajasthan till 3 p.m., officials said.

The polling in around 278 polling centres is reportedly going on smoothly. It started at 8 a.m. and will end at 5 p.m.

A strong police force has been deputed and a total of nine area magistrates are monitoring the election in the constituency, said Chief Electoral Officer Anand Kumar.

The election was scheduled on December 7 along with the rest of Rajasthan Assembly seats but was postponed after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Laxman Singh died due to cardiac arrest.

There are 20 candidates in the fray but the main contest involves Congress' Saphia Zubair Khan, BJP's Sukhwant Singh and BSP's Jagat Singh.

The Congress is aiming to win the seat to hit a century in the 200-member House. The result of will be announced on January 31. The Congress now has 99 seats.

State Congress Vice President Archana Sharma told IANS that his party was confident of winning the seat.

BJP state President Madan Lal Saini also expressed hopes of victory saying the Congress had failed to fulfill the promises made to farmers and unemployed youths in its manifesto.

BSP state head Devilal added: "Our candidate is quite strong and hence we will definitely win."

In booth number 136, two voters aged over 100 years voted. They were identified as Khuda Baksha (106) and Harbai (101), resident of village Mast Bad, an official said.

Also, there were seven 90+ voters in booths 131, 132, 133 and 134, the official added.

--IANS

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