Rajasthan Assembly Election LIVE UPDATES: 72.7% voter turnout recorded till 5 PM; violent clash among two groups in Fatehpur

Rajasthan Assembly Election 2018, VOTING LIVE: In Rajasthan, the contest is largely bipolar between the BJP and Congress in about 130 seats. At about 50 other seats, rebel candidates from both major parties are in the fray, refusing to step down in favour of the official nominees. The BJP is fighting anti-incumbency to retain power in the desert state, which has a tradition of alternating between Congress and BJP every five years. Both parties promised an unemployment allowance to the educated youth. The Congress promised a loan waiver for farmers.

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Rajasthan Assembly Election: Over 2,000 candidates are in the fray for 199 assembly seats in Rajasthan, where polling started at 8 in the morning but the process was disrupted after reports of malfunctioning EVMs was reported in many areas. Today's voting will determine whether the BJP bucks anti-incumbency and an increasingly aggressive opposition to return to power. Voters will cast at 51,687 polling booths, 259 of them managed exclusively by women officials and security personnel.In Rajasthan, the contest is largely bipolar between the BJP and Congress in about 130 seats. At about 50 other seats, rebel candidates from both major parties are in the fray, refusing to step down in favour of the official nominees. The BJP is fighting anti-incumbency to retain power in the desert state, which has a tradition of alternating between Congress and BJP every five years. Both parties promised an unemployment allowance to the educated youth. The Congress promised a loan waiver for farmers.BJP’s Vasundhara Raje hopes to return as the state's chief minister and if the Congress wins, it is expected to pick between former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and state party president Sachin Pilot for the top post in the state. Raje is contesting from Jhalrapatan constituency, considered her bastion. This time she face BJP veteran Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh who has defected to the Congress, complaining that his old party had hurt the pride of the Rajputs by ignoring his father in the last Lok Sabha election.ALSO READ: Rajasthan Elections: Key Candidates And Constituencies In other constituencies, groups like the Bahujan Samaj Party and rebels who are contesting against official party candidates may queer the pitch. In the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 12 major rallies and Congress president Rahul Gandhi nine in the state. Both sides fielded their top leaders in the campaign. Election officials said 2,274 candidates are contesting in Rajasthan which has 4.74 crore registered voters. About 1.44 lakh security personnel have been deployed for polling day. The BJP has fielded candidates for all 199 seats and the Congress for 194. For the five remaining seats, the Congress is in alliance with other parties. The BSP fielded 190 candidates, the CPI (M) 28 and CPI 16. Of the total 4,74, 37,761 registered voters, 2.27 crore are women and 20,20,156 are registered as first-time voters. In the run-up to the polling, the Election Commission received 3,784 complaints related to violation of code of conduct. Of them, 3,098 were found true. The results will be out on December 11, along with those from the other four states which saw Assembly elections in the past few weeks.

07/12/2018 17:09:15

Voter turnout recorded till 5 PM in Rajasthan Elections 2018 is 72.7%

07/12/2018 17:10:16

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP after meeting Election Commission: We've demanded immediate action against Congress President Rahul Gandhi for influencing voters through paid news under the garb of his interview in a Hyderabad newspaper on 6 December.

07/12/2018 16:10:14

Will BJP be able to retain Rajasthan or will the Congress make a turnaround? Watch #ABPExitPoll right now on ABP News.

07/12/2018 15:39:49

Will BJP be able to retain Rajasthan or will the Congress make a turnaround? Watch #ABPExitPoll right now on ABP News.

07/12/2018 15:38:14

Rajasthan: Vehicles were set ablaze&vandalised in a clash which broke out b/w 2 groups at polling booth at Subhash school in Sikar's Fatehpur today.

07/12/2018 15:04:14

Polling percentage in Rajasthan is 59.68 percent till 3 pm.

07/12/2018 13:54:50

Polling was going on at a brisk pace in Rajasthan Friday where nearly 42 per cent of the over 4.74 crore voters exercised their franchise till 1 pm. In the state, 51,687 polling booths have been set up in 199 out of the total 200 assembly constituencies where polling is going on amid tight security.

07/12/2018 13:27:12

In Bikaner, man dies after suffering a massive heart attack while waiting in line to cast vote. The man is said to be a retired teacher.

07/12/2018 12:59:26

In the state, Mayawati-led BSP has fielded 190 candidates, the Communist Party of India-Marxist 28 and the Communist Party of India 16 candidates. There are 830 Independent candidates.

07/12/2018 12:45:44

97-year-old Nagender Singh Chouhan and his 85-year-old wife Yuvraj Kuwar cast their votes at a polling station in Jhalawar.

07/12/2018 11:35:12

Over 20 per cent of over 4.74 crore voters exercised their franchise in the first three hours of polling in Rajasthan. In the state, polling began at 8 am and the voting turnout was 20.9 per cent at 11 am and there were reports of some EVMs not working which delayed voting at a few polling booths.

07/12/2018 11:31:40

Shajha, a 105-year-old woman casts her vote at a polling booth in Kishanpura, Jaipur. Family says,"There is no facility of wheel chair in this polling booth. We had to carry her inside the polling station so that she could vote."

07/12/2018 11:31:55

Shajha, a 105-year-old woman casts her vote at a polling booth in Kishanpura, Jaipur. Family says,"There is no facility of wheel chair in this polling booth. We had to carry her inside the polling station so that she could vote."

07/12/2018 10:54:05

Shajha, a 105-year-old woman casts her vote at a polling booth in Kishanpura, Jaipur. Family says,"There is no facility of wheel chair in this polling booth. We had to carry her inside the polling station so that she could vote."

07/12/2018 10:53:50

Voters create ruckus at polling booth no. 253 and 254 in Ahor constituency of Jalore as voting has been halted following EVM malfunction.

07/12/2018 10:26:02

At Bikaner’s booth No. 172 of Rajasthan, Union Minister Arjun Meghwal stands in line to cast his vote for almost an hour due to EVM malfunction. In Bikaner's Kisamidesar, EVM is being replaced at polling booth no. 172 following a technical issue.

07/12/2018 09:54:07

In Rajasthan’s Kota, voting started late due to EVM malfunction in many places. A total of 5.25% voter turnout reported in Kota in one hour.

07/12/2018 10:22:00

News agency ANI reports voting turnout in Rajasthan Assembly election is 6.11% till 9 AM.

07/12/2018 09:45:55

News agency ANI reports voting turnout in Rajasthan Assembly election is 6.11% till 9 AM.

07/12/2018 09:42:17

In Rajasthan, voting is yet to begin in polling booth no. 253 and 254 in Ahor following EVM malfunction.

07/12/2018 09:18:07

As the voting kick-started in Rajasthan, multiple instances of the electronic voting machines and voter verifiable paper audit trail malfunctioning have been reported, thus temporarily stalling the polling process. The incidents happened in Rajasthan’s Piplai, Chatarpura.

07/12/2018 09:04:50

Congress' Chief Ministerial probable Sachin Pilot has cast his vote. When asked on CM face from Congress, Sachin Pilot says “we will sit and discuss this after our party gets a majority in the election.” In Tonk, Sachin Pilot and Rajasthan Transport Minister and BJP candidate Yoonus Khan are face to face. Khan is the only Muslim candidate fielded by his party.

07/12/2018 08:59:47

Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore casts his votes at polling booth 252 in Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur. In the state, the BJP is fighting anti-incumbency to retain power in the desert state, which has a tradition of alternating between Congress and BJP every five years.

07/12/2018 08:55:17

Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore casts his votes at polling booth 252 in Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur. In the state, the BJP is fighting anti-incumbency to retain power in the desert state, which has a tradition of alternating between Congress and BJP every five years.

07/12/2018 08:44:51

Vasundhara Raje says "considering the fact that good amount of development has taken place in Rajasthan, people will vote for BJP"

07/12/2018 08:43:39

Vasundhara Raje says "considering the fact that good amount of development has taken place in Rajasthan, people will vote for BJP"

07/12/2018 08:42:59

Vasundhara Raje says "considering the fact that good amount of development has taken place in Rajasthan, people will vote for BJP"

07/12/2018 08:42:29

Vasundhara Raje casts her vote in Jhalawar constituency. In 2013, the state had been swept off by BJP under the stewardship of Vasundhara Raje. This time Raje is facing strong anti-incumbency sentiments.

07/12/2018 08:38:15

Congress leader Sachin Pilot says "Very confident Congress will form a government in Rajasthan this year with huge margin. He further said that PM Modi and Amit Shah had been working so hard in the state because they know that their party's position the state is very weak.

07/12/2018 08:18:55

Congress leader Sachin Pilot says "Very confident Congress will form a government in Rajasthan this year with huge margin. He further said that PM Modi and Amit Shah had been working so hard in the state because they know that their party's position the state is very weak.

07/12/2018 08:17:54

Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot confident of victory; says 'People have made their mind that they want to send Raje government back home'. In the state of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot is fighting for the Sardarpura seat.

07/12/2018 08:11:01

Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot confident of victory; says 'People have made their mind that they want to send Raje government back home'. In the state of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot is fighting for the Sardarpura seat.

07/12/2018 08:10:35

PM Narendra Modi urged people to vote. He took on Twitter and wrote “I urge all the voters of the state to participate”

07/12/2018 08:07:34

In Rajasthan, voting begins for 199 seats. The state assembly has 200 seats, but election in Alwar district's Ramgarh constituency has been put off due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh.

07/12/2018 08:00:48

Ahead of the voting, the current CM of Rajasthan took on Twitter and urged people to cast vote. Raje is contesting from Jhalrapatan constituency, considered her bastion. This time she face BJP veteran Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh who has defected to the Congress, complaining that his old party had hurt the pride of the Rajputs by ignoring his father in the last Lok Sabha election.

07/12/2018 08:00:23

Ahead of the voting, the current CM of Rajasthan took on Twitter and urged people to cast vote. Raje is contesting from Jhalrapatan constituency, considered her bastion. This time she face BJP veteran Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh who has defected to the Congress, complaining that his old party had hurt the pride of the Rajputs by ignoring his father in the last Lok Sabha election.

07/12/2018 07:56:57

Ahead of the voting, the current CM of Rajasthan took on Twitter and urged people to cast vote. Raje is contesting from Jhalrapatan constituency, considered her bastion. This time she face BJP veteran Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh who has defected to the Congress, complaining that his old party had hurt the pride of the Rajputs by ignoring his father in the last Lok Sabha election.

07/12/2018 07:56:40

Piyush Goyal tweets, urging the people of Rajasthan and Telangana to cast their votes for growth & development in the State.

07/12/2018 07:52:35

Piyush Goyal tweets, urging the people of Rajasthan and Telangana to cast their votes for growth & development in the State.

07/12/2018 07:47:12

In Rajasthan, mock polling is being conducted at booth no. 106 in Jodhpur's Sardarpura constituency. In the state, voting will begin at 8 am.

07/12/2018 07:44:15

For the elections in the state of Rajasthan, more than two lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) and verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines will be used in the elections.