Jaipur, Nov 13 (PTI) A tentative voter turnout of 69.29 per cent was recorded in the bypolls to the seven assembly seats in Rajasthan on Wednesday, election officials said.
There was no report of any untoward incident except from Deoli-Uniara in Tonk where an independent candidate slapped an area magistrate, a Rajasthan Administrative Service officer, while he was making attempts to get more people to vote as locals had declared a boycott of the poll.
Voting began amid tight security arrangements at 7 am in Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chorasi, Salumber and Ramgarh assembly constituencies from 7 am to 6 pm.
Chief Electoral Officer Naveen Mahajan said that tentative voter turnout was 69.29 per cent.
Khinvsar witnessed the highest turnout of 75.62 per cent. Ramgarh saw 75.27 per cent voting, Chorasi 74.1 per cent, Salumbar 67.01 per cent, Jhunjhunu 65.8 per cent, Deoli-Uniara 65.1 per cent and Dausa 62.1 per cent. Counting will take place on November 23.
In Deoli-Uniara, independent candidate Naresh Meena allegedly slapped Amit Chaudhary, sub divisional officer of Malpura, who was engaged in election duty as the area magistrate. Meena, a Congress rebel contesting as an independent, also caught the collar of Chaudhary.
District election officer and Tonk collector Saumya Jha said voters in Samravta village had announced a boycott of the polls but the polling booth and approach road to the booth remained open. Meena had extended support to the villagers who had declared the boycott.
An adequate police force had been deployed in the area.
The village currently falls in Nagar Fort Tehsil but residents are demanding that it is brought under Uniara Tehsil because the latter is closer to the village.
While the by-elections will not impact the stability of the BJP government, bypolls are being seen as an opportunity for Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and BJP state president Madanlal Rathore to wrest some lost ground, especially after the party's disappointing performance in the Lok Sabha elections, where it lost 11 out of 25 seats.
The bypolls are being held in two constituencies due to the death of Congress MLA Zubair Khan in Ramgarh and BJP MLA Amritlal Meena in Salumber.
The remaining five seats became vacant as their MLAs were elected to Parliament in the Lok Sabha polls.
Alongside the Congress, Hanuman Beniwal's Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and Rajkumar Roat's Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) also face the challenge of defending their political strongholds.
Beniwal's wife Kanika Beniwal is contesting the election from Khinvsar against BJP's Rewant Ram Danga, who contested the assembly election on this seat last year but lost to Hanuman Beniwal by 2059 votes, and Congress's Ratan Chaudhary.
In Jhunjhunu, Congress candidate Amit Ola, the son of MP Brijendra Ola, is contesting the election against BJP's Rajendra Bhamboo.
Former minister Rajendra Singh Gudha is also contesting the bypolls as an independent candidate from Jhunjhunu.
In the tribal-dominated Chorasi seat, there is a close fight between BJP and BAP candidates.
Deoli-Uniara and Dausa seats are also witnessing contests between BJP and Congress though Congress rebel Meena is also posing a challenge.
Cabinet minister Kirodi Lal Meena's brother Jagmohan Meena is contesting Dausa bypolls against Congress's Deen Dayal.
Currently, the 200-seat state assembly has 114 MLAs of the BJP, 65 of the Congress, three of the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP), two of the BSP, one of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and eight Independent MLAs.