Rajasthan witnesses 62% polling till 5 p.m.

Rajasthan witnessed 62.06 per cent polling till 5 p.m. on Monday in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections with the highest polling recorded in Barmer at 67.92 per cent while the lowest voting took place in Tonk Sawai Madhopur at 55.35 per cent.

Following Barmer, Chhittorgarh saw 66.97 per cent voting, Jhalawar-Baran 66.31 per cent, Banswara 66.12 per cent, Jodhpur 62.59 and Tonk Sawai Madhopur 55.35 per cent.

In Jodhpur, 90-year-old Birdi Devi cast her vote along with her 111-year-old mother Dakhi Devi at Barkatullah Khan Stadium polling centre. They travelled to the voting centre in an auto- rickshaw and both were carried in to cast their vote.

Birdi said her mother is unwell but she too thinks that voting is our right and we all should do it religiously.

The high voting percentage comes in all crucial seats of the state witnessing a high profile contest.

In Barmer, Congress' Manvendra Singh, son of BJP veteran Jaswant Singh, is fighting against the BJP's Kailash Choudhary.

Manvendra had recently joined the Congress before the Assembly elections and claims that he is fighting for the self-respect and honour of the Rajputs as his father was denied a ticket by the BJP in 2014.

The other most talked about seat is Jodhpur where Union minister of state Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been fielded against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot.

Similarly, Banswara has seen the emergence of a new party named the Bharatiya Tribal Party which won two seats in the Assembly elections. This party represents the tribals of the region who claim that they have been ignored by both the Congress and the BJP.

Also, this party has much influence in Chhittorgarh and Udaipur constituencies.

Jhalawar-Baran has been represented by former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her son Dushyant Singh who has been a ruling MP from here three times.

--IANS

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