Presidential election: Ballot box, poll material reach Rajasthan assembly

The ballot box and other poll material for the July 18 presidential election have reached Rajasthan and it was kept in the strong room of the assembly building here, officials said on Thursday.

Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said ballot box, ballot papers and other election material were brought to Jaipur from New Delhi on Wednesday evening amid tight security.

On the instructions of the Election Commission of India, a seat was reserved for the ballot box in the name of 'Mr Ballot Box' in an aircraft, the officials said.

The polling material was escorted from the office of the Election Commission of India to the airport by a Delhi Police and Rajasthan Armed Constabulary team.

Video coverage of the entire process of the material reaching the strong room located in the Vidhan Sabha building from Sanganer Airport, Jaipur and sealing the strong room was done as per the protocol and guidelines issued by the Election Commission, Gupta said.

He said the material will be taken out on the polling day, on July 18, at 9 am.

After the voting is over, the authorised officer will take the ballot box and other voting material by air to Delhi and submit it to the office of the Returning Officer, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, he added.

The BJP-led NDA has fielded Draupadi Murmu as its candidate for the presidential election, while Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the opposition.

Both Murmu and Sinha have recently visited Jaipur.

There are a total of 200 MLAs in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members from the state, who are eligible to vote in the election.