In the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, the Congress currently has 107 MLAs, BJP 71, RLP three, CPI(M) and Bhartiya Tribal Party two each, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) one and 13 are Independents.
Voting in the assembly by-election at Sardarshahar in Rajasthan's Churu district started at 8 am on Monday. A total of 2,89,843 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the bypoll in the assembly constituency, necessitated following the demise of Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma, who passed away on October 9 after prolonged illness.
"The polling has begun amid tight security arrangements," an official said. It will conclude at 5 pm. The Congress has fielded the late Sharma's son Anil Kumar and former MLA Ashok Kumar is the BJP candidate. Eight other candidates are in the fray: Lalchand of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), Sanwarmal Meghwal of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Parmana Ram of the Indian People's Green Party and Independent candidates Subhash Chandra, Vijay Pal Singh Sheoran, Umesh Sahu, Prem Singh and Surendra Singh Rajpurohit.
The votes will be counted on December 8. In the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, the Congress currently has 107 MLAs, BJP 71, RLP three, CPI(M) and Bhartiya Tribal Party two each, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) one and 13 are Independents.
(With PTI inputs)