BJP lost Rajasthan by just over 1.70 lakh votes

A total of 1,39,35,201 votes went into the Congress kitty in Rajasthan while the BJP received 1,37,57,502 votes -- a marginal difference of over 1.70 lakh votes that ended five years of BJP rule.

The Congress got 39.3 per cent of votes spread over 199 Assembly constituencies and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 38.8 per cent votes. The narrow difference led to the ouster of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her government.

NOTA (None of the Above) accounted for 4,67,781 lakh votes, or 1.3 per cent of all votes, Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer Anand Kumar said on Wednesday.

Independents got 9.5 per cent votes (33,72,206) and the the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 4 per cent (14,10,995 votes).

Overall, 74.69 per cent voting was recorded in Rajasthan on December 7.

The statistics show that independents and BSP played spoilsport for both Congress and the BJP, denting their prospects. The Nationalist Congress Party got .2 per cent of votes and so did the Samajwadi Party.

Eventually, the Congress finished the single largest party, two short of a legislative majority, and is set to form a government in Rajasthan.

--IANS

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