Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023: Polling Commences Amidst a Single Constituency Deferral

Voting for the Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023 commenced today, November 25, 2023. However, in a deviation from the norm, polling will be held only for 199 out of the 200 assembly seats in the state. The election for the Karanpur assembly constituency in Sriganganagar district has been postponed following the untimely demise of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Kunnar on November 15, 2023.

According to the guidelines established by the Election Commission of India, elections in any assembly constituency are postponed if a recognized national party candidate from that constituency passes away. In such instances, the Election Commission announces a revised polling date for the affected constituency.

This is not the first time such an occurrence has taken place in Rajasthan. In the previous assembly elections held in 2013 and 2018, polling for one seat each had to be deferred due to the death of candidates.

During the 2013 elections, polling for the Churu assembly constituency was postponed owing to the demise of BSP candidate JP Meghwal. Similarly, in the 2018 elections, polling for the Ramgarh assembly constituency was rescheduled due to the passing of BSP candidate Laxman Singh.

As a result of the postponement of elections in the Karanpur assembly constituency, the total number of seats up for grabs in the Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023 has been reduced from 200 to 199. The Election Commission is yet to announce the revised polling date for this particular constituency.