Jaipur, Sep 13 (IANS): The bypoll to Rajasthan's four assembly constituencies Saturday recorded over 65 percent voter turnout, an official said.
"Polling was peaceful and as per tentative information, 65.87 percent of the electors cast their votes till 7.15 p.m.," an election department official told IANS.
As many as 8.95 lakh people were eligible to vote at 961 polling stations in Nasirabad, Weir, Surajgarh and Kota South assembly constituencies.
The percentage this time, however, fell short of the 2013 assembly election, when voter turnout was 75.67 percent.
The maximum polling of over 70 percent was reported from Nasirabad while Kota South recorded the minimum of 61 percent.
The official said the poll panel was yet to receive detailed information about voter turnout from a few polling stations.
The elections were necessitated as BJP legislators Sanwar Lal Jat from Nasirabad, Om Birla from Kota South, Santosh Ahlawat from Surajgarh, and Bahadur Singh Koli from Weir were elected to the Lok Sabha.
Reports of problems in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) came from some polling stations, where the machines were repaired or changed.
In all, 23 candidates were in the fray. The maximum of nine candidates contested from Surajgarh and the minimum of three from Weir.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded Sarita Gaina from Nasirabad in Ajmer district, Gangaram Koli from Weir in Bharatpur district, Sandeep Sharma from Kota South in Kota and a close confidant of Vasundhara Raje, Digambar Singh, from Surajgah in Jhunjhunu district.
The Congress fielded Ramnarayan Gurjar from Nasirabad, Bhajanlal Jatav from Weir, Shravan Kumar from Surajgarh and Shivkant Nandwana from Kota South.
In the 2013 elections, the Congress suffered one of its worst defeats in the history of the state, winning only 21 of the 200 assembly seats. The BJP swept the polls, winning 163 seats.
Meanwhile, leaders of both the parties expressed confidence of winning.
"We are confident of retaining all the four seats," said Kailash Nath Bhatt, state spokesperson of the BJP, told IANS.
"We have put in extra efforts. We are sure we will win all the seats where bypoll have been held in the state," state spokesperson of the Congress Archana Sharma said.