79.16% voting in Ramgarh constituency in Rajasthan

Braving a day-long chill, around 79.16 per cent of the 235,625 electorate voted on Monday in Rajasthan's Ramgarh Assembly constituency in a battle which the Congress hopes to win to gain a simple majority in the 200-member House.

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 were 20 candidates in the fray but the main contest involved Congress' Shaphia Zubair Khan, BJP's Sukhwant Singh and BSP's Jagat Singh.

The polling in 278 polling centres went off smoothly, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., said Chief Electoral Officer Anand Kumar.

The constituency had 235,625 registered voters including 110,947 females.

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

Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot asserted that the party shall win by a strong margin.

After the formation of a Congress government, this is the first by-election.

"Although people say that this is going to be a triangular contest, I strongly feel that the Congress will come up as a winner by a strong margin," Pilot said.

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."

Meanwhile, there were several persons over 90 years who came out to vote.

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 voters over 90 years old in booths 131, 132, 133 and 134, the official added.

In 2013, the voter turnout in the constituency was 80.17 per cent and BJP's Gyandev Ahuja won by a margin of 4,647 votes.

--IANS

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