Electronic voting machine and voter verifiable paper audit trail during special training of zone and sector officials (Photo: PTI)
Thirty-one candidates withdrew their nominations on Monday, leaving 152 in the fray for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, officials said.
With this, a total of 266 candidates – 114 in the first phase and 152 in the second phase – are participating in the fray for the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies of Rajasthan.
Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said 31 candidates from 10 of the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the second phase withdrew their nomination papers on Monday, the last day for withdrawal.
Interestingly, Congress candidate from Banswara Arvind Damor did not withdraw his nomination paper despite the party’s decision to back the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP). Kapur Singh, the party’s candidate for Bagidora Assembly from Banswara district, also did not withdraw his nomination.
Congress in-charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had on Sunday evening posted on India is the party’s primary target.
Both Congress candidates – Damor and Singh – did not withdraw their nominations on the last day. Party leaders said they could not contact them.
PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra said action will be taken against both.
Bypoll on Bagidora constituency under Banswara lok sabha constituency will also be held in the second phase on April 26. The seat fell vacant after Congress MLA Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya left the Congress and joined the BJP in February.
According to CEO Gupta, till Friday, 191 candidates had filed nominations in the 13 constituencies, which will go to polls in the second phase on April 26, of which 8 had withdrawn their nominations on Saturday itself.
Gupta said that on Monday, 10 candidates withdrew their names from Jalore seat, 6 from Barmer, 3 from Ajmer, Pali and Kota Lok Sabha constituencies, 2 from Bhilwara and one each from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Jodhpur, Chittorgarh and Rajsamand.
The Chief Electoral Officer said that in the second phase, maximum 18 candidates are in the fray from Chittorgarh Lok Sabha constituency and least number of 7 candidates from Jhalawar-Baran Lok Sabha constituency.
The Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan will be held in two phases on April 19 and 26. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
In the first phase on April 19, 12 seats from Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Jaipur, Alwar Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa and Nagaur will go to polls.
The remaining 13 seats of Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran will go to polls in the second phase on April 26.
Malviya is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Banswara seat as a BJP candidate.
(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.)
First print: April 8, 2024 | 9:18 PM IST
