The counting of votes for the Karanpur assembly seat in Rajasthan began at 8 am on Monday, January 8. This seat gained attention due to the deferral of polling following the death of a candidate. The outcome of this count will determine the fate of various candidates, particularly BJP’s Surendra Pal Singh, who has more at stake than just this seat.
Counting is currently underway on 17 counters at Dr Bheemrao Ambedkar Government College in Sriganganagar, the district to which the constituency belongs, as reported by news agency PTI. The polling for this seat took place on January 5, 2024, recording a voter turnout of 81.38%. "Counting of EVMs will be done on 14 tables. Two tables have been set up for the counting of postal ballots, in addition to one kept for counting electronically transmitted postal ballots," informed Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta to PTI.
The election for the seat was postponed due to the unfortunate demise of the Congress candidate and then MLA Gurmeet Singh Koonar. In his place, the Congress fielded Gurmeet Singh Koonar’s son, Rupinder Singh. It is noteworthy that Surendra Pal Singh was inducted into the Rajasthan ministry after the BJP secured victory in the assembly polls, claiming 115 out of 199 seats. In the Rajasthan assembly polls held on November 25, BJP won 115 seats, and Congress secured 69. Bhajanlal Sharma, from the BJP, took oath as Chief Minister on December 15, with newly elected MLAs Diya Kumari and Premchand Bairwa appointed as deputy chief ministers.