Voting in the western state of Rajasthan was sluggish in the beginning on Sunday but soon picked up later in the race to the state assembly polls for the 2,087 candidates.
Out of the total number of candidates, there were 166 women and one eunuch contesting the polls.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot along with his wife and son cast their votes in Jodhpur at Vardhman Jain upper primary school in Mahamandir area.
"There is a wave in favour of Congress. Ours campaigning was a positive one and we did not touch a low like BJP leaders. We gave positive message to the people and they will vote for development and works done by our government," he said.
BJP chief ministerial candidate Vasundhara Raje cast her vote in Jhalawar. "Everyone was waiting for this opportunity to get rid of Congress. I am sure people will vote for development," she said.
While the two major political parties have fielded 200 candidates each, there are 195 candidates of Bahujan Samaj Party, 38 by CPI (M), 23 by CPI, 16 by Nationalist Congress Party contesting in the polls.
Since voting in the Churu constituency was suspended at the last moment, polling began at 8am in 199 constituencies. Due to the death of BSP candidate Jagdish Meghwal, voting in that area has been countermanded to 13 December.
The voter turnout in 47,223 polling booths was recorded the highest in the history assembly polls Rajasthan at 74.38 percent, out of the total 4.08 crore eligible voters in Rajasthan, reported PTI. During the 2008 polls, the voting percentage had been 67.5 percent.
The voting percentage in the district of the state capital Jaipur was 68.5 percent. Two polling booths were stormed by people in Bharatpur district's Dhabak and Mawai area during the elections but the polling remained unaffected.
"Sector magistrate informed me that he was threatened by a MLA and her supporters. Additional force was rushed to the area immediately and the situation is under control," said Neeraj K. Pawan, Bharatpur District Collector. The lowest voter turnout was recorded from the same district, which stood at 55.21 percent.
The highest voter turnout was recorded in Jaisalmer at 85.52 percent, followed by Hanumangarh 85.40 percent and Sri Ganganagar with 84.06 percent, State Election Commission office told PTI.
The results of all the five assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and New Delhi will be announced on 8 December.
