41.51 per cent voter turnout in Rajasthan till 3 p.m., Ganganagar crosses 50 per cent

Jaipur, April 19 A 41. 51 per cent turnout was logged by 3 p.m. on Friday in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election in Rajasthan, where 12 of the state's 25 seats went to polls, with the highest voting recorded in Ganganagar seat.

Ganganagar registered a voter turnout of 50.14 per cent, and the Jaipur Lok Sabha seat followed with 49.48 per cent voting. However, the Jaipur Rural constituency only logged a voter turnout of 39.90 per cent.

The lowest turnout, of 33.86 per cent, was in Karauli-Dholpur.

Churu, witnessing a tight contest between Congress' Rahul Kaswan, who quit the BJP in the run-up to the polls, and the BJP's Devendra Jhajharia, had 46.40 per cent voting. Alwar, from where Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav is in the fray, registered 43.39 per cent voting while Bikaner, from where his cabinet colleague Arjum Ram Meghwal is contesting, had a voter turnout of 40.80 per cent.

The turnout in Nagaur was 41.56 per cent, Jhunjhunu registered 36.12 per cent, Sikar 39.25 per cent, Bharatpur 37.28 per cent, and Dausa 38.36 per cent.

In Jaipur, BJP candidate Manju Sharma's brother Manoj Sharma alleged that there has been slow voting in the Government Higher Secondary School located in Brahmpuri and that the employees are deliberately harassing the public under the pressure of Congress candidate Pratap Singh Khachariyawas.

Source: IANS