50 percent voter turnout in Rajasthan till 3 pm

Jaipur, May 6 A voter turnout of 50 percent was recorded till 3 pm Monday in 12 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan where two former Olympians are among the 134 candidates in the fray.

The maximum voter turnout of 57.10 percent was recorded in Ganganagar (SC) situate, while Churu, Jaipur and Alwar recorded 51.84 percent, 54.39 percent and 51.31 percent surveying separately, as per the site of the chief electoral officer of Rajasthan.

Polling started at 7 am in Ganganagar (SC), Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur rustic, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa and Nagaur seats.

The website of the chief electoral officer of Rajasthan stated that the overall polling percentage in the 12 seats till 3 pm was 50.02 per cent.

A total of 2.30 crore voters over these 12 voting demographics are qualified to choose the destiny of the 134 candidates, among whom 16 are ladies. Upwards of 23,738 polling stations have been set up in the state for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

The candidates also include two previous Olympians, Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Krishna Poonia in Jaipur country seat, and previous IAS officer Arjun Ram Meghwal and ex-IPS officer Madangopal Meghwal in Bikaner.

While Rathore is banking on the Modi factor for his re-appointment from the Jaipur rustic seat and has featured national security as the key issue amid the hustings, Congress MLA Poonia scrutinized the works done by the sitting BJP parliamentarian.

The seat, which Rathore won in 2014 with an edge of 3.32 lakh cast a ballot, is overwhelmed by the Jat people group to which Poonia has a place.

Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is confronting an intense battle from his cousin and Congress candidate Madangopal Meghwal in Bikaner.

Nagaur is where BJP's collusion accomplice and previous BJP leader Hanuman Beniwal, the organizer of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), is contesting election against Congress candidate and former MP Jyoti Mirdha.

Two 'sants', Sumedhanand Saraswati and Baba Balaknath, are trying their karma from Sikar and Alwar voting demographics individually. In Alwar, Congress applicant and previous union minister and ex-royal Bhanwar Jitendra Singh is in the fray.

In Dausa, both the BJP and Congress hopefuls are ladies. BJP has handled previous MP Jaskaru Meena against Congress applicant Savita Meena, the spouse of sitting Congress MLA Murari Meena.

Rajasthan has a total of 25 Lok Sabha seats and 13 of them went to poll on April 29.