Jaipur, Sept. 10 -- Rajasthan recorded a strong 72.09% voter turnout in the first phase of the urban local body elections on Wednesday, with more than 4.14 million of the state's 5.75 million registered voters exercising their franchise by 6 pm even as smaller towns recorded substantially higher participation than the state's four municipal corporations. Nagar Palikas, the smallest category of urban local bodies, led the turnout with around 81% polling, followed by Nagar Parishads at nearly 74%. In contrast, the four Nagar Nigams that went to polls recorded only about 67% turnout. The pattern suggests that voter participation remained considerably stronger in smaller urban centres than in larger and more urbanised cities. The four municipal corporations - Alwar, Bharatpur, Bhilwara and Bikaner - all recorded turnout below the state average. Bhilwara registered 62.71% polling among 297,000 electors, the second-largest electorate among the four corporations. Alwar recorded 64.60% turnout among 268,000 voters, while Bikaner, which had the largest electorate at 478,000, recorded 68.20%. Bharatpur performed relatively better, recording 73.13% turnout and emerging as the only corporation to cross the state average. At the other end of the spectrum, several smaller Nagar Palikas recorded turnout of more than 89%. Arnod in Pratapgarh district topped the state with 91.98% polling among 5,190 electors, followed by Bigod in Bhilwara at 91.49%, Saipau in Dholpur at 90.77% and Pahari in Deeg at 90.32%. Tiwari and Balesar Satta in Jodhpur recorded 89.30% and 89.24%, respectively, while Bahadurpur in Alwar registered 89.23% and Nasirabad in Ajmer 89.22%. At the bottom of the turnout table was Chittorgarh Nagar Parishad, where 61.49% of its 98,229 registered voters cast their ballots. It was followed by Bhilwara and Alwar, reinforcing the broader trend of lower participation in larger urban centres. Dungarpur recorded 65%, Sawai Madhopur 65.24%, Fatehpur 66.72% and Banswara 67.01%. In the Ajmer division, polling across 18 urban local bodies remained largely incident-free. Bhilwara Municipal Corporation recorded 62.71% turnout, while Beawar Municipal Council registered 72.20%, Didwana 75.33%, Kuchaman 76.20% and Nagaur 83.89%. Among municipalities, Nasirabad recorded the highest turnout at 89.22%, followed by Pisangan at 86.73%, Sarwar at 85.96%, Mundwa at 84.58%, Jaal at 83.57%, Kuchera at 81.80%, Savar at 80.64% and Borawar at 80.48%. Kekri recorded 77.64%, Tantoti 75.24%, Basni 66.91% and Ladnun 67.86%. The high turnout came amid long queues at polling stations, with women, young voters and elderly electors participating in significant numbers. Polling was largely peaceful across the state, although isolated clashes, allegations of bogus voting and voter inducement, and technical problems with electronic voting machines were reported. Bharatpur recorded 73.13% turnout, up from around 70% in the 2019 civic elections. While polling remained largely peaceful, allegations of inducements and bogus voting surfaced at several booths. Voting at a booth in Ward 29 was disrupted for around one-and-a-half hours following an EVM malfunction. In Ward 31, some voters alleged that votes had already been cast in their names before they reached the polling station at Rameshwari Devi Girls College. Videos were circulated on social media allegedly showing candidates or their supporters distributing money, sweets and clothes to voters. In Ward 58, allegations were made that women voters were being offered clothes and sweets. In Ward 2, locals allegedly caught supporters of an Independent candidate distributing packets of sweets, while in Ward 52, residents allegedly caught a family member of a candidate offering money to voters and handed him over to police at Mathura Gate. Bharatpur Congress president Dinesh Soopa accused BJP candidates of violating the model code of conduct by offering money, clothes and sweets. BJP district president Shivani Dayma rejected the allegations, saying no case of bogus voting had come to her notice and claiming that voters were supporting the BJP because of the state government's development work. Bharatpur collector Qummer Ul Jaman Chaudhary said polling remained peaceful and officials promptly addressed issues reported from booths. Bikaner recorded 56.74% turnout by 3 pm, up from 20.84% at 10 am and 44.31% at 1 pm. District Election Officer and Collector Nishant Jain said officials inspected polling locations where turnout appeared low but found nothing unusual. Jodhpur district recorded 74.79% turnout by 3 pm across six municipalities. Isolated clashes were also reported elsewhere. At Binjolav in Jaipur's Dudu area, supporters of Congress and an Independent candidate allegedly clashed following a dispute over bogus voting, prompting police to detain six people. In Alwar, a BJP candidate and his two sons were accused of assaulting supporters of an Independent candidate. In Sikar's Laxmangarh, BJP leader and former mandal president Manoj Sharma was allegedly attacked while accompanying voters to a polling booth. In Jhunjhunu, police detained three men following a disturbance outside a polling station. A booth-level officer at booth number 24 in Ward 18 was also removed from polling duty after an Independent candidate accused him of attempting to influence voters. The first phase turnout has therefore presented a mixed picture: while overall participation remained high, the sharp gap between smaller towns and major urban centres is likely to draw attention as Rajasthan moves towards the next phase of civic polling on September 11....