Raj polls: PM extends best wishes to 1st-time voters, urges record turnout
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday extended his best wishes to the new voters in Rajasthan, where elections for the 199 assembly seats began on Saturday morning.
Taking his official stance on social media platform
“Today there will be voting for the Rajasthan Assembly. I request voters from all age groups to come out in large numbers and exercise their franchise. I would also like to convey my best wishes to all my young friends who are going to vote for the Rajasthan Assembly. first time,” PM Modi posted in Hindi on X, formerly Twitter.
Voting began on Saturday in 199 of the 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan, after days of hectic campaigning by major political parties, including the ruling Congress and the BJP.
However, the elections in Karanpur constituency were postponed after the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar.
The elections started at 7 a.m. and voters can cast their votes until 6 p.m.
Adequate security arrangements have been put in place to ensure peaceful and fair elections.
The ruling Congress is looking forward to another term, while the BJP is trying to replace the Ashok Gehlot government, with the party banking on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Counting votes will start on December 3.
A total of 5,26,90,146 voters will decide the fate of the candidates in a total of 51,890 polling stations in the constituencies. The high-voltage election campaign ended in Rajasthan on Thursday.
1,70,99,334 young voters in the age group of 18 to 30 years will vote, including 22,61,008 new voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years.
A total of 1,02,290 security personnel have been deployed to ensure peaceful voting. A total of 69,114 police personnel, 32,876 Rajasthan Home Guard, Forest Guard and RAC personnel have been deployed and 700 CAPF companies have been deployed, he added.
In 2018, the Congress won 99 seats while the BJP won 73 seats. Gehlot took over the CM position with the support of BSP MLAs and independents.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)