Results of the two Parliamentary and one assembly by-elections will indicate which way the wind is blowing
Results of the Ajmer, Alwar parliamentary bypolls and Mandalgarh assembly by-elections are slated to be declared today with counting of votes beginning from 8 in the morning.
For the first time in Rajasthan, counting will take place with the ‘mandatory verification’ module in a bid to bring about transparency. Mandalgarh assembly results are likely to be out first and the Ajmer report card could take the longest as 23 candidates are in the fray.
The poll is tipped to be the semi final ahead of the Rajasthan general assembly elections and is a prestige battle for both Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot who were full time on the campaign trail in a bid to ensure victory for their parties.
Pressure is mounting on Raje to repeat the Dholpur success. However, there is the anti-incumbency factor which could come in the way. The Congress claims that she is on the final leg of her governance. However, Pilot, who lost the battle in Dholpur, has to prove his mettle. A debacle in the bypolls means a threat to his leadership which could be adverse for both the party and him.
Similarly, the result will decide the future of sitting BJP and Congress MLAs, and four ministers who represent seats under Ajmer and Alwar constituencies. Also, performance of 10 more ministers who were made in charge of the election will be judged by the outcome.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ashwini Bhagat revealed that preparations for counting will take place with the mandatory verification system. Simply put, when a person votes on an EVM, it can be also verified from the paper generated from a VVPAT machine. Election officers will randomly verify whether the vote in an ATM matches with the output in the VVPAT machine. If there is a match, all fears would be put to rest. If not, polling officers will take up the issue with their higher ups.
It is being done on the direction of the Election Commission (EC) which decided to conduct this verification mainly to allay apprehensions surrounding the alleged tampering of EVMs. The EC introduced this system in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat assembly election but will be adopted for the first time in Rajasthan.
“Counting will commence from 8 am at the centres where EVM machines are stored under tight security. For the first time in Rajasthan, counting will take place with verification from VVPAT and EVM machines for each assembly constituency,” said Bhagat.
He added that votes cast by service voters through Electronic Postal Ballot Paper System (EPBPS) will be counted first under various rounds. “We can expect the fastest result from Mandalgarh where counting will take place in 21 rounds while in Ajmer it will take more time as the number of candidates is 23,” added Bhagat.
Forty-two candidates are in the fray for bypolls to the three seats, the election to which was held on Monday.
In Alwar, Jaswant Singh Yadav of BJP and Karan Singh Yadav of the Congress have contested the election, while Raghu Sharma of the Congress and BJP's Ram Swaroop Lamba have locked horns in Ajmer. In Mandalgarh, BJP's Shakti Singh Hada and Congress's Vivek Dhakad are poised for a tough fight where Gopal Malviya, rebel from Congress, is contesting as an independent.
POLL CALL
WHY BYPOLLS WERE HELD: The bypolls to all the three seats were necessitated after the sudden death of BJP MPs Sanwarlal Jat from Ajmer, BJP Mahant Chand Nath Yogi from Alwar, and MLA BJP Kirti Kumari from Mandalgarh.
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