Which one of the following statement is NOT correct regarding the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly by-election – 2024 ?

Correct — option (4), Maximum ballot papers for service employed voters were issued in Khinvsar assembly constituency.

The stem asks for the statement that is NOT correct. The seven seats polled on 13 November 2024 and were counted on 23 November 2024. Each statement is checked below against ECI's index cards for the seven seats and the Chief Electoral Officer's statements released by the Rajasthan government's information department (DIPR).

Option (1) is correct. Dausa's turnout was 62.30% (153,278 voters of 246,023 general electors), the lowest of the seven. The next lowest was Deoli-Uniara at 65.32%.

Option (2) is correct. Women's turnout was higher than men's in Jhunjhunu (67.06% against 65.28%), Ramgarh (76.20% against 74.48%) and Salumber (68.74% against 66.80%): three of the seven.

Option (3) is correct. On 21 November 2024, Chief Electoral Officer Naveen Mahajan said that 3,127 voters, aged over 85 or with more than 40% disability, had used the home-voting facility.

Option (4) is the incorrect statement. Service voters get their ballots through the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot Management System (ETPBMS), and the CEO put the total issued for the seven seats at 5,465.

On 14 November 2024 the CEO said the most, 3,310 ballots, were issued in Jhunjhunu, not Khinvsar. ECI's index cards list 3,310 service electors in Jhunjhunu and 589 in Khinvsar.

The idea to remember: Jhunjhunu had the most service voters of the seven by-poll seats, and Dausa the lowest turnout.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Minimum turnout (in percent) in by-election took place in Dausa. — This statement is true, so it cannot be the NOT-correct one. ECI's index card for Dausa shows 153,278 voters out of 246,023 general electors: 62.30%, the lowest turnout of the seven seats.

  Khinvsar had the highest, 75.66%. The CEO's final figures, which add home voting, give Dausa 62.45%, still the lowest, and 69.72% for the seven seats together.

• (2)
  Out of 7 in 3 assembly constituencies, the voting percentage of women was more than that of men. — This statement is true. Dividing women voters by women electors, and men voters by men electors, gives a higher women's turnout in Jhunjhunu, Ramgarh and Salumber, three of the seven. The CEO's statement of 14 November 2024 names the same three seats.

  In the other four the men's figure was higher. In Chorasi the gap was narrow: 74.41% for men against 74.28% for women.

• (3)
  3127 voters voted through home voting. — This statement is true. On 21 November 2024, two days before counting, Chief Electoral Officer Naveen Mahajan said that 3,127 voters had voted through the home-voting facility.

  Home voting let voters aged over 85 and voters with more than 40% disability cast a postal ballot from home. By the last date for applications, 23 October 2024, 3,193 eligible voters had applied.

A by-election fills a seat that falls vacant during a legislature's term, for example on the member's death or resignation. Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 requires the vacancy to be filled within six months, subject to exceptions.

Turnout is the share of electors who vote. A turnout comparison between women and men divides each group's voters by that group's electors, not by the total.

Postal ballots serve voters who cannot reach a polling station. Service voters, such as members of the armed forces, receive theirs through the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System; home voting brings a postal ballot to elderly voters and voters with disabilities.

Key facts

• By-elections to seven Rajasthan assembly seats were held on 13 November 2024 and counted on 23 November 2024.
• The seats were Jhunjhunu, Ramgarh, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Salumber and Chorasi.
• Dausa recorded the lowest turnout, 62.30%, and Khinvsar the highest, 75.66%, per ECI's index cards.
• Women's turnout exceeded men's in Jhunjhunu, Ramgarh and Salumber.
• Of 5,465 ETPBMS ballots issued for service voters across the seven seats, the most, 3,310, went to Jhunjhunu; Khinvsar had 589 service electors.

Common traps

• Missing the word NOT in the stem. Three statements are true, and the answer is the one that is false.
• Comparing numbers of women and men voters instead of turnout percentages. Salumber had fewer women voters than men (100,653 against 101,236) but a higher women's turnout, 68.74% against 66.80%.
• Assuming the seat with the highest turnout also had the most service voters. Service electors are a separate roll: Jhunjhunu had 3,310 and received the most service-voter ballots, while Khinvsar had 589.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2013 here once that paper is published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the November 2024 by-elections to seven Rajasthan assembly seats, which constituency had the largest number of service electors?

  • (a)Khinvsar
  • (b)Jhunjhunu
  • (c)Ramgarh
  • (d)Dausa
  Answer(2) — ECI's index cards list 3,310 service electors in Jhunjhunu, and the CEO said it received the most service-voter ballots. Option (1) had 589, option (3) had 625 and option (4) had 401.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  By-elections to the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly are conducted by

  • (a)the State Election Commission, Rajasthan
  • (b)the Election Commission of India
  • (c)the Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
  • (d)the Governor of Rajasthan
  Answer(2) — Article 324 gives the Election Commission of India the conduct of elections to Parliament and state legislatures. Option (1) conducts panchayat and municipal elections; options (3) and (4) do not conduct elections.