Over 84,000 advocates to vote tomorrow in Rajasthan Bar Council polls; 57 women among record 234 candidates

Jaipur: More than 84,000 advocates across Rajasthan will vote on Tuesday to elect 23 members of the Rajasthan Bar Council, in the first such election in around eight years. A record 234 candidates are in the fray, of whom 57 are women contesting under a newly introduced women’s reservation.

Polling will be held from 8 am to 5 pm on 22 April 2026 at centres across the state, including Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Udaipur, Kota, Ajmer, Bharatpur, Alwar, Sikar, Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh. Jaipur alone accounts for more than 22,000 voters — making the state capital the single largest polling region. The total electorate stands at 84,247 advocates.

After polling closes, ballot boxes will be collected between 22 and 28 April. Counting is scheduled for 29 April 2026, with results to be declared the same day.

The Bar Council has 25 members in total, of which 23 are directly elected and two are co-opted afterwards. Under the applicable rules, at least 12 of the 23 seats must go to advocates who have been on the state roll for at least 10 years, and 5 seats are reserved for women. The reservation has been implemented without separate ballot papers for women candidates, in line with recent Supreme Court directions.

Under the election code, campaigning within a 200-yard radius of any polling centre is barred on polling day, and all campaigning ends 36 hours before voting begins. Ferrying voters in hired vehicles to polling stations is completely prohibited. Only authorised voters are allowed inside polling stations; mobile phones, cameras, scanners, loudspeakers, megaphones and weapons are banned, and no food items other than drinking water are permitted.

Candidates found using muscle power, committing financial irregularities, influencing voters or disrupting the polling process face disqualification, cancellation of nomination and, in serious cases, removal from the voter list.