Jaipur, Oct 24 (IANS): Counting of votes in Rajasthan has started on Thursday on two seats, Mandava and Khinvsar, where bypolls were held on October 21.

A total of 69.62 per cent voting was reported in Mandava on Monday till 6 p.m., while Khinvsar recorded 62.61 per cent polling.

Mandava had 259 voting centres and 266 polling booths were in Khinvsar.

In Mandava, there is a clash between the two women candidates with Congress' Rita Chaudhary being fielded against BJP's Sushila Seegda, while in Khinvsar, it is the BJP alliance partner RLP's Narayan Beniwal fighting against Congress' veteran leader Harendra Mirdha.

The Assembly bypolls on these two seats were necessitated as the respected MLAs of these two seats were elected to the Lok Sabha.

While Narendra Kumar khinchad from the BJP won as MP from Jhunjunu leaving the Mandava seat vacant, Hanuman Beniwal from the RLP (the party in alliance with BJP) won Lok Sabha polls from Nagaur leaving the Khinvsar seat vacant.

These Assembly bypolls are a litmus test for the Congress, which had formed government in the state in December 2018. The party will give a report card to the party on October 24 when the results of these elections will be declared.

Also, the elections stand crucial for the BJP as the party appointed a new state president Satish Poonia, who has been campaigning hard for these two seats to register first victory after his appointment.