Jaipur/Alwar: The first phase of urban local body elections Wednesday saw a 76% average turnout till the end of polling across 5,393 wards of the state. The polls were marred at several places by incidents of violence, clashes between supporters of rival candidates, allegations of fraudulent voting, and technical glitches in EVMs.Arnod municipality in Pratapgarh registered the highest turnout at 92%, while Chittorgarh municipal council recorded the lowest at 61.5%. In Jaipur, Kaldera municipality recorded the highest turnout at 90%, with overall turnout across the district’s 18 ULBs standing at 87%.The first phase of voting covered 162 ULBs, including four municipal corporations, 27 municipal councils and 131 municipalities.More than 57 lakh voters were eligible to cast their ballots to decide the fate of 20,623 candidates in the first phase, which spanned all 41 districts of the state. Candidates have already been elected unopposed in 32 wards across 22 urban local bodies.Polling for the second phase will be held Friday, while counting for both phases will take place on Sept 14.At a booth in ward 11 of Didwana in Didwana-Kuchaman district, independent MLA Yunus Khan was allegedly pushed and shoved as he arrived with his family to cast his vote. His relatives also accused supporters of both Congress and BJP candidates of snatching voter IDs.Police detained two people following the incident.In Dudu near Jaipur, supporters of independent candidate Salim and Congress candidate Ishaq clashed with each other at Booth 1 of a govt school in Binjolav village over allegations of fraudulent voting. Police later detained six people over the violence.In Alwar’s ward 31, Congress candidate Pawan Sharma’s son Shlok Sharma was accused of fraudulent voting and taken to a police station. Three youths were also detained in Alwar’s ward 38 after being accused of attempted voter fraud.In Alwar’s ward 43, BJP candidate Jagdish Atal and his two sons were accused of assaulting supporters of independent candidate Ajay Birbal before polling began. Two injured supporters were taken to hospital for treatment, with one of them receiving multiple stitches on the front and back of his head.Police deployment at the Pride School polling booth in Surya Nagar was increased following the incident.Voters in several districts said they found out their votes had already been cast by the time they reached their polling stations. Such complaints were reported from Alwar, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Sawai Madhopur and Srimadhopur in Sikar district.In Sawai Madhopur’s ward 32, independent candidate Mahesh Soni alias Bhanu was one of those who alleged his vote had been cast by someone else.In Dholpur’s ward 57, a scuffle broke out between BJP candidate Pappu Jat and independent candidate Kamaljeet, while a similar clash between two groups was reported from Balesar Durgavata in Jodhpur.In Jhunjhunu, the husband of a BJP candidate alleged that Congress supporters assaulted him and shoved the candidate around. In Nagaur, stone-pelting and commotion were reported following allegations of false voting, with police later detaining two people.Polling was also disrupted in several places by EVM malfunctions, including at booths in Sujangarh, Alwar, Dungarpur, Bundi, Jhunjhunu and Jaipur’s Shahpura. In Sujangarh’s ward 39, polling remained halted for around two hours after the EVM malfunctioned thrice.Technical glitches also delayed voting in Sawai Madhopur, Kotputli-Behror, Dausa and Jodhpur.In Jhunjhunu’s Udaipurwati, a reserve polling party employee was removed from election duty after allegedly consuming alcohol and creating a ruckus. A BLO in Jhunjhunu’s ward 18 was removed from a booth after an independent candidate alleged that he was influencing voters.
