Dholpur LS bypoll: 69 pc voting till 4 PM

Around 69 per cent votes were cast till 4 PM in the by-election to Dholpur Assembly constituency in Rajasthan.
A total of 69.02 per cent polling was recorded till 4 PM, an official in the election office said.
The by-election in the constituency began peacefully at 7 AM at 231 polling booths.
The voting will continue till 6 PM.
A total of nearly 1.91 lakh voters are eligible to cast votes in the bypoll, of which nearly 1.18 lakh are men and 90,000 are women.
A total of 15 candidates are in the fray. Apart from BJP candidate Shobha Rani and Congress' Banwari Lal Sharma, 13 other candidates including wife of dacoit Jagan Gujjar, Mamta, are contesting.

BJP's Shobha Rani cast her vote at Jamalpur polling booth while Banwari Lal Sharma of Congress exercised his right at Pachgaon polling booth.

Chief minister Vasundhara Raje's son and MP from Jhalawar constituency Dushyant Singh and his wife Niharika Raje and Dholpur district collector Shuchi Tyagi also cast their votes at PWD polling booth.
Tyagi said adequate security arrangements have been made in the district to ensure that poll is free, fair and peaceful.
Paramilitary forces and Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC) jawans have been deployed at 61 polling booths which were declared critical, the District Collector said.
It is for the first time voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines are used in this election. Voting at VVPAT machine is confirmed after seven seconds.

Technical faults in the voting machines were reported at few booths which were then rectified, said Tyagi after casting her vote.