There are 5,26,90,146 voters in 199 assembly constituencies. Since 1998, Congress and BJP have been coming to power in the state alternately after every five years.

Polling began Saturday morning for the 199 assembly seats in Rajasthan where the BJP is going all out to wrest power from the Congress which hopes to beat the state's anti-incumbency tradition.

"Polling began at 7 am today. A total of 51,507 polling booths have been set up across the state," Rajasthan's chief electoral officer Praveen Gupta said.

Rajasthan has a total of 200 assembly seats but polling will be held on 199 seats as the election in the Karanpur seat of Sriganganagar district was postponed following the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar.

There are 5,26,90,146 voters in the 199 assembly constituencies. The results of the polls will be declared on December 3.

Some of the key faces among the 1,862 candidates in the fray include Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura), former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot (Tonk), state PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra (Lachhmangarh), former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of the BJP (Jhalrapatan), RLP convenor Hanuman Beniwal (Khinvsar).

More than 1.70 lakh security personnel have been deployed across the state. 70,000 Rajasthan Police personnel, 18,000 Rajasthan Home Guards, 2,000 Rajasthan Border Home Guards, 15,000 Home Guards from other states (Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh), and 120 RAC Companies have been deployed for the day.

Congress in its manifesto promised to double the insurance sum under the flagship Chiranjeevi health insurance from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, 10 lakh jobs including 4 lakh government jobs and continue the Old Pension Scheme. It has also laid thrust on conducting a caste census if voted back to power.

As no political party has retained power in Rajasthan for the last 25 years, Congress is hoping to buck the trend banking on Gehlot's welfare schemes and promises made in its manifesto while the BJP seeks to oust what it claims to be a "corrupt" government by vociferously raising issues concerning farmers, women and youth.

Since 1998, the Congress and BJP have been coming to power in the state alternately after every five years. While the ruling Congress is hoping that it will retain its government in Rajasthan, the opposition party BJP is eyeing a return in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year.

#WATCH | Congress leader Sachin Pilot casts his vote at a polling booth in the Civil Lines area of Jaipur Pilot is contesting from the Tonk assembly constituency. pic.twitter.com/GMEghnpi1d

— ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2023

Big faces in contention

Both parties have repeated most tickets, contrary to the claims made in the selection of candidates. However, analysts believe that this time there is neither any wave nor any anti-incumbency against the government. It is believed that like last time, this time too, the key to power will be in the hands of the voters of 39 seats of eastern Rajasthan.

Last time, Congress won 35 of 39 seats there. One reason for this was that due to Sachin Pilot being the CM candidate, the inclination of Gujjars was towards the Congress. This time Congress has fielded 12 candidates while BJP has fielded 9 Gujjar candidates. But the situation is different this time due to the division of Gujjar votes.

Gehlot who is in his third term as chief minister is contesting from Sardarpura, a seat he has been representing since 1998. The chief minister is up against BJP's Mahendra Singh Rathore, former chairman of the Jodhpur Development Authority.

In Tonk, which has a sizable Muslim population, Congress party's former state chief Sachin Pilot will face BJP's Ajit Singh Mehta, who represented the seat in 2013. This is the second assembly election for Pilot, who has previously won Lok Sabha polls from Dausa and Ajmer.

Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje is contesting from the Jhalrapatan constituency, which she currently represents with Congress' Ram Lal Chauhan pitted against her. She has been the chief minister for two terms.

#WATCH | Rajasthan Elections | Former CM and BJP candidate from Jhalrapatan assembly constituency, Vasundhara Raje cast her vote at a polling booth in Jhalawar. pic.twitter.com/LzapJjKZsq

— ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2023

The BJP has not fielded even a single Muslim candidate and has tried to polarise the Hindu vote bank by giving tickets to sants, mahants and acharyas on Muslim-dominated seats. The Congress has fielded 14 Muslims.

Jat leader Hanuman Beniwal, who founded the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, could be a concern for both the BJP and Congress in Khinvsar.

Several leaders of the BJP and Congress have rebelled against their parties after being denied a ticket Chief BJP rebels include former assembly speaker Kailash Meghwal, Chandrabhan Akya from Chittorgarh and former transport minister Yoonus Khan from Deedwana.

In Congress, the main rebel candidates include Joharilal Meena from Rajgarh-Laxmangarh, Gopal Baheti in Pushkar, Habiburrahman from Nagaur, Virendra Beniwal in Lunkaransar, Khiladi Lal Bairwa in Baseri, and Dr. Param Navdeep Singh in Sangaria.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are also contesting the assembly polls in the state.

People turn up at polling booths in large numbers

People turned up at polling booths in Jaipur in large numbers as voting began this morning. Many voters, youngsters as well as elderly, queued up at polling centres well before 7 am when polling began.

"I got ready by 6 am, called up my friends and reached the polling booth so that we are the first ones to vote," Himanshu Jaiyaswal, a college student, told PTI at a polling booth in Nitin Public School in Malviya Nagar.

In other constituencies, people showed enthusiasm and came out to vote in large numbers.  "This is the festival of democracy and all should participate in it," Jai Singh, another voter, said.

A voter in Jamwaramgarh, who also reached the polling booth before 7 am, said people in rural areas would cast their votes for development.

"I have come early in the morning so that I do not have to stand in the queue later. As far as the trend goes, I believe people in this rural area will vote for development. The one who works for development will get the vote," he said.

(With inputs from ENS, PTI and ANI)