Jaipur, November 13 (IANS). Voting for by-elections on seven seats of Rajasthan Assembly has started at 7 am. Voters can cast their votes till 6 pm. These seven seats are Dausa, Ramgarh, Deoli Uniara, Chaurasi, Jhunjhunu, Salumber and Khinvsar.
More than 19 lakh voters will exercise their franchise.
Chief Electoral Officer Naveen Mahajan said that strict security arrangements have been made in all the seven assembly constituencies for free, fair, safe, fear and inducement free voting.
Mahajan said that keeping in mind the sensitivity and confidentiality, arrangements for live webcasting have been made inside 1,170 out of the total 1,915 polling centers in the seven assembly constituencies.
In some polling complexes, where there are three or more polling stations, cameras have also been installed outside the booths.
This will also help in keeping an eye on the queues of voters and the law and order situation.
He also directed for effective implementation of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) directed at the local authorities and taking prompt, corrective action as required.
The Chief Electoral Officer directed to ensure complete compliance of the action plan prepared to make the voting process environment friendly during the assembly by-elections in the state.
In this sequence, paper packets and plates will be made available for food and snacks at polling stations and EVM storage centers and water will be made available in pitchers instead of plastic bottles for drinking.
Mahajan had said that strictness and promptness would be taken in confiscating illegal cash, liquor, drugs and freebies on the day of voting. He directed other enforcement agencies including state police, excise and income tax officials, flying squads (FS) and static surveillance teams (SSTs) to work more proactively and vigilantly to prevent them from influencing the elections.
He said that under the Election Code of Conduct, more vigilance should be maintained at check posts in border areas with other states and neighboring districts, to prevent any outside interference in the conduct of elections. It is important to mention here that the need for by-elections on these seven seats arose because five MLAs were elected MPs while two MLAs died.
MLA from Khinvsar Hanuman Beniwal was elected MP from Nagaur due to which this seat became vacant.
Similarly, Rajkumar Rot was elected MP from Chairasi, Brijendra Ola from Jhunjhunu and Murarilal Meena was elected MP from Dausa, due to which this assembly seat became vacant.
Similarly, Amritlal Meena and Zubair Khan from Salumber passed away due to which these seats became vacant. There was a BJP MLA from Salumbar while a Congress MLA was elected from Ramgarh.
Both the parties played the emotional card here and fielded family members. While BJP fielded Amritlal Meena’s wife from Salumber, Congress fielded Zubair Khan’s son Aryan Zubair Khan to get sympathy votes.
–IANS
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