The BJP is confident that it will be able to take over this Congress bastion, with political observers stating that Gehlot did nothing for most of his tenure, springing into action only in the last year to implement a series of welfare schemes.

7.10 pm: Historic turnout of nearly 75 percent voters, confirms EC

Amid sporadic violence, nearly 75 percent voters today exercised their franchise in Rajasthan Assembly polls to decide the fate of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his bete noire BJP's Vasundhra Raje among others.

The turnout was 74.38 percent, the highest-ever in the desert state, the Election Commission said.

The fate of 2,087 candidates, including Gehlot and Raje, was sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines after the exercise which saw police firing in the air at a few places to restore calm.

A pick up was also set ablaze and reports of attempt to capture a booth and malfunctioning of EVMs were reported from some places, officials said.

The voting was held for 199 out of 200 assembly seats up for grabs. Polling was adjourned in Churu constituency to 13 December following the death of BSP candidate Jagdish Meghwal.

Police fired in the air to disperse a group of persons trying to disturb polling at Saleempur in Dausa district, at Rein in Alwar and near Khumber-Deeg in Bharatpur, ADGP (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh told PTI.

No one was injured and the polling went on smoothly at these places, he said.

"No untoward incident was reported within 200 metres of polling booths in the entire state," the ADGP said.

A pick van was set ablaze by some persons at Fatehpur in Sikar district, the ADGP said.

Some anti-socials tried to capture a booth in Rupwas area in Bharatpur district leading to suspension of the polling briefly.

"After a brief interruption, the polling resumed," Bharatpur Collector Neeraj K Pawan said.

Gehlot, his wife, son and daughter-in-law cast votes at Vardhman Jain upper primary school in Mahamandir area in Jodhpur.

Gehlot is trying his luck from his home turf Sardarpura in Jodhpur district and chief ministerial aspirant Raje from Jhalarapatan constituency in Jhalawar district.

5.39 pm: Estimated 65 percent voter turnout, says EC

The State Election Commission has said that an estimated 65 percent voter turnout has been recorded in the Rajasthan elections.

5.21 pm: 53 percent voting recorded till 3 pm

An average polling of 53 percent was recorded till 3 pm in 199 Assembly constituencies of Rajasthan amid stray incidents of booth-capturing and violence.

Hanumangarh was ahead with 68.13 voting followed by Sikar at 67.25 percent. Pratapgarh, Jhalawar and Rajsamand recorded 65.72, 62.72 and 61.52 percent respectively while Chittorgarh recorded a low percentage of 25.10 percent.

Approximately 50 EVM machines were replaced following technical problems at different polling booths.

Meanwhile, two incidents of firing by security personnel was reported from Alwar and Dausa districts. In Dausa district, security personnel opened two rounds of fire to disperse a crowd of supporters trying to disturb polling at a booth in Saleempur area.

According to Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh, the polling was not disturbed there and it was going on smoothly. In another incident, a pick van was set on fire by miscreants near ward number 15 at Fatehpur in Sikar district, the ADGP said.

Some antisocial elements tried to capture a booth in Rupwas area of Bharatpur district leading to which the polling was affected for some time. They also tried to cast fake votes. “Some of them were held by security personnel. After a brief interruption, the polling resumed,” Bharatpur Collector Neeraj K Pawan said.

3.27 pm: 40 percent polling as of 2pm

An average polling of 40 percent was recorded till 2 pm in the 199 Assembly seats of Rajasthan.

Sriganganagar recorded a polling percentage of 46.55 percent followed by 46 percent in Jhunjhunu , 37.63 in Jhalawar, 33.45 in Karauli, and 35 percent in Jaipur, a Chief Election Office PR said.

Of the all the Assembly seats, polling has been adjourned in Churu constituency to 13 December following the death of a BSP candidate.

1.15 pm: Polling picks up, 20 percent votes cast by noon

After a slow start, polling picked up rapidly as the day progressed with 20 per cent of 4.08 crore voters of Rajasthan exercising their franchise in the assembly elections till 12 noon.

Dausa district recorded the highest turn out of 23.34 followed by Rajsamand where 22.31 percent voters cast their votes till noon, according to the state election commission office.

Voting percentage in Bundi, Tonk, SriGanganar was 17, 14.7 and 11 per cent respectively whereas the state capital registered a low turn out of 7.58 per cent.

Of the 200 Assembly seats, polling has been adjourned in Churu constituency, where nine people were in the fray, to 13 December, following the death of BSP candidate Jagdish Meghwal.

12.15 pm: Unenthusiastic turn out, just 8.2 percent votes cast so far

A low turn out of 8.24 percent voters was witnessed in the initial hours of polling for the Rajasthan assembly today, the state election commission said.

Tonk recorded a 12 percent turn out whereas SriGanganagar, Dausa, Jhalawar and Bikaner registered 11, 10.40, 9.56 and 9.41 per cent turn out respectively, according to information provided by the state EC office.

Besides attempts of booth capturing in Bharatpur district, polling is going on peacefully, an official said.

11.28 am: Ashok Gehlot casts vote, predicts one sided victory for Congress

Incumbent Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today predicted a one-sided victory for the Congress in Rajasthan Assembly polls as the party government had carried out development work on a large scale in the last five years.

On the question of competition with BJP, he told reporters here that there was no "Modi or Raje" (Narendra Modi and Vasundhara Raje) factor in the state.

Gehlot, who cast his vote in the Mahamandir area of Jodhpur, said the claims of the BJP leaders would be proved hollow when results will be announced on 8 December.

"Modi's ideology is not in the interest of the country.

And a new agenda based on country's unity and secularism would be formed after five states' poll results."

After coming out of the polling booth at Topkhana school in Jhalawar where she cast her vote with her son Dushyant Singh, who is also an MP, BJP state president Vasundhara Raje also predicted a huge victory for her party.

8.30 am: Polling gets underway in Rajasthan

Has Congress Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot done enough to hold on to the Chief Ministerial chair, or will all the opinion polls that predicted a sweep for the Vasundhara Raje led BJP prove correct?

The BJP is confident that it will be able to take over this Congress bastion, with political observers stating that Gehlot did nothing for most of his tenure, springing into action only in the last year to implement a series of welfare schemes.

And today, the people will decide.

Polling began at 8 am for the 200-seat Rajasthan assembly, an official said.

Around 40 million people are eligible to vote. Ballotting will take place in 199 constituencies as the election has been postponed in Churu to 13 December, following the death of a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.

A total of 2,087 candidates are in the fray.

There will be over 47,000 polling booths across the state. Votes will be counted Dec 8 - along with those of Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Apart from the Congress and BJP, the newly formed National Peoples Party (NPP) is fielding candidates in 150 constituencies and the BSP is in the race in over 100 seats.

The leading candidates are Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, BJP's Vasundhara Raje, state Congress president Chandrabhan, Gujjar leader Prahlad Gunjal and Meena community leader Kirori Lal Meena.

with inputs from IANS