Polling for Karanpur assembly seat in Rajasthan is being held today. The election on Karanpur seat in Sriganganagar district was adjourned due to Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar's death.
Surendra Pal Singh TT, the BJP nominee for this seat, has already been sworn in as a minister. He was inducted as a minister of state (independent charge) in Bhajanlal Sharma’s government on December 30 last year, a move opposed by the Congress.
While rules say that non-legislators can be included as ministers with the condition that they get elected within six months, former chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot had called it a clear violation of the code of conduct and an attempt to influence the voters there.
The Congress has fielded Koonar's son Rupinder Singh.
The voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 6 pm, while the result will be declared on January 8, officials said.
Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said that voting would be held in 249 polling stations in Karanpur.
There are 2.40 lakh voters in Karanpur assembly constituency, including 1,25,850 men, 1,14,966 women and 10 transgender voters, he said and added that 180 service voters are also registered.
As many as 12 candidates are contesting the election in Karanpur.
The elections in 199 out of 200 assembly seats in the state were held on November 25, and the December 3 results led to a clean sweep for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BJP won 115 seats while the Congress managed to bag 69 seats.
