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Rediff.com  » Election » Polling off to a peaceful start in Jaipur

Polling off to a peaceful start in Jaipur

By Onkar Singh in Jaipur
Last updated on: December 01, 2003 21:51 IST
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Polling has been by and large peaceful in the 15 assembly segments in Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan, barring an occasional altercation over identification of voters.

There are 145 candidates in the fray for the 15 seats. Bani Park, where Udai Singh Rathore of the Congress is facing Biru Singh Rathore of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has 17 contestants.

Since one electronic voting machine can accommodate only 16 names, all the polling booths in Bani Park have two EVMs each.

In polling booth number 60 on the Jaipur-Kalwar road in Bani Park constituency, over 150 votes were cast in the first hour.

In the adjacent polling booth number 59, only 50 votes were registered in the first hour.

Sangram Singh, a zonal magistrate, told rediff.com that polling has been peaceful so far. "Not a single incident of any nature has taken place so far," he said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Raghuvir Saini has been out on the streets since morning keeping an eye on the situation. "We would not let any incident take place. Booth capturing is simply out of question," he said.

In Johari Bazar, 14 candidates are in the fray. There are 12 candidates each in Jaipur rural and Amber assembly constituencies.

Over 30 lakh voters would decide the fate of 145 candidates in the state.

The state chief electoral office has identified 291 booths as hyper-sensitive and 325 as sensitive in the Jaipur region.

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Onkar Singh in Jaipur