Rajasthan Elections 2023: Polling begins for 199 assembly seats

On Saturday morning, polling commenced for the 199 assembly seats in Rajasthan, with the BJP making a determined effort to seize control from the Congress. The Congress, on the other hand, is aiming to overcome the state's historical trend of anti-incumbency. Union Minister of State Kailash Chaudhary was among the first to cast his vote, exercising his franchise in Balotra.

Polling began at 7 am today. A total of 51,507 polling booths have been set up across the state, Rajasthan's chief electoral officer Praveen Gupta said.  Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura), former chief minister Vasundhara Raje (Jhalrapatan), former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot (Tonk), state PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra (Lachhmangarh), RLP convenor Hanuman Beniwal (Khinvsar) are some of the key faces among the 1,862 candidates in the fray.

More than 1.70 lakh security personnel have been deployed across the state. 70,000 Rajasthan Police personnel, 18,000 Rajasthan Home Guards, 2,000 Rajasthan Border Home Guards, 15,000 Home Guards of other states (Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh), 120 RAC Companies have been deployed for the day.

Rajasthan, with a total of 200 assembly seats, is set for polling on 199 seats. The election for the Karanpur seat in Sriganganagar district was postponed due to the unfortunate demise of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar. The electoral process involves 199 assembly constituencies, with a total of 5,25,38,105 voters participating in the democratic exercise.