Heavy polling in Rajasthan: Election Commission

New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS) Rajasthan witnessed heavy polling Thursday to elect a new 200-seat assembly with the Election Commission putting the preliminary estimate of the turnout between at 65 and 68 percent.

'Rajasthan saw 65 to 68 percent polling and it may go up,' J.P. Prakash told reporters here. He said the geographically largest state in the country saw heavy polling.

The turnout in the 2003 elections in Rajasthan, which trounced a Congress government to usher in the Bharatiya Janata Party, was 67 percent. The same enthusiasm was missing in the Lok Sabha elections the following year when the voting was just 49 percent.

He said they received complaints that 150 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were not functioning and these were replaced. About 43,000 EVMs were used in the elections.

Rajasthan Governor S.K. Singh had to embarrassingly wait for over 25 minutes as the electronic voting machine at his polling centre in Jaipur developed a snag and had to be changed.

Prakash said for the first time they used mobile polling stations to facilitate people living in the desert area of Jaisalmer to vote. 'About six mobile vans were used and they are functioning well,' he added.

He said a firing incident was reported in Toda Bhim constituency but it did not disrupt the election procedure.