166 nomination papers of 124 candidates for 12 LS seats in Rajasthan found valid

Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta Thursday said 166 nominations were found to be valid after scrutiny of papers Thursday for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls for 12 seats in the state. Altogether, 179 nominations papers were filed by 131 candidates for the 12 seats.

Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta Thursday said 166 nominations were found to be valid after scrutiny of papers Thursday for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls for 12 seats in the state. Altogether, 179 nominations papers were filed by 131 candidates for the 12 seats. Out of them, 166 nomination papers of 124 candidates were found valid whereas 13 nominations of seven candidates were rejected during scrutiny, Gupta said in a statement.

He said 17 in Jaipur Rural, 16 in Sikar, 14 each in Jaipur and Churu, 10 each in Alwar and Nagaur, nine each in Ganganagar and Bikaner, eight in Jhunjhunu, seven in Dausa, six in Bharatpur and nominations of four candidates in Karauli-Dholpur were found valid.

He said the last date for withdrawal of names for the first phase of voting is March 30. Voting will take place on April 19 and the counting of votes will take place on June 4.

In the second phase of elections in the state, voting will be held on 13 seats -- Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran -- on April 26.

Apart from this, byelection on Bagidora assembly seat falling under Banswara Lok Sabha constituency will also be held in the second phase on April 26. This seat fell vacant after Congress MLA Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya left the Congress and joined the BJP a few days ago.