Rajasthan bypoll: 55.66 per cent voting in Mandava till 3 pm

A total of 55.66 per cent was reported in Mandava till 3 pm while Khinvsar registered 49.95 per cent of voting till the same time on Monday.

The Assembly by-polls on these two seats have been necessitated as the respected MLAs of these two seats were elected as MPs in Lok Sabha election.

While Narendra Kumar from BJP won as MP from Jhunjunu leaving the Mandava seat vacant, Hanuman Beniwal from RLP (the party in alliance with BJP) won Lok Sabha polls from Nagaur leaving the Khinvsar seat vacant.

Now, these assembly by-polls are a litmus test for Congress which had formed government ten months back in the state in December 2018. They shall give a report card to the party on October 24 when the results for these elections will be declared.

Interestingly, Congress after winning Assembly polls with a majority, had fallen flat in Lok Sabha elections in May 2019, just five months after Assembly elections, closing at zero while BJP made a clean sweep winning all 25 seats.

Meanwhile, these by-polls are crucial for Pradesh Congress Committee President Sachin Pilot, who a few days back had expressed his displeasure against his own government for sidelining the organisation and taking independent decision of organising civic unit elections using new hybrid model without discussing it with party, cabinet or workers.

Similarly, the elections are crucial for newly appointed BJP state chief Satish Poonia, who has recently assumed the charge on his new post.

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