Rajasthan polls: 53% voter turnout till 3 PM

JAIPUR: An average polling of 53 per cent was recorded till 3 PM in 199 Assembly constituencies of Rajasthan amid stray incidents of booth-capturing and violence.

Hanumangarh was ahead with 68.13 voting followed by Sikar at 67.25 per cent. Pratapgarh, Jhalawar and Rajsamand recorded 65.72, 62.72 and 61.52 per cent respectively while Chittorgarh recorded a low percentage of 25.10 per cent.

Approximately 50 EVM machines were replaced following technical problems at different polling booths.

Meanwhile, two incidents of firing by security personnel was reported from Alwar and Dausa districts.

In Dausa district, security personnel opened two rounds of fire to disperse a crowd of supporters trying to disturb polling at a booth in Saleempur area.

According to Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh, the polling was not disturbed there and it was going on smoothly.

In another incident, a pick van was set on fire by miscreants near ward number 15 at Fatehpur in Sikar district, the ADGP said.

Some antisocial elements tried to capture a booth in Rupwas area of Bharatpur district leading to which the polling was affected for some time. They also tried to cast fake votes.

"Some of them were held by security personnel. After a brief interruption, the polling resumed," Bharatpur Collector Neeraj K Pawan said.