JAIPUR: The battle for Rajasthan assembly elections has reached its final phase. The voting in the state is due on November 25. More than 5 crore voters in Rajasthan will decide the fate of the candidates.
This time there is a direct contest between BJP and Congress on most assembly seats.
Congress party is entering the field with an undeclared face of the CM. The problem of the ruling Congress in Rajasthan is that in the last 30 years, there is a trend of power changing hands every five years. This time the entire responsibility is on Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to bring the party back to power.
While last time, he had to compete with the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje, this time the competition is with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, who has attacked Congress on corruption and the secrets hidden in an alleged ‘lal diary’, 14 paper leaks, increase in atrocities against women and farmers.
Gehlot faces people with his social security schemes and 7 guarantees. This election has become Gehlot vs Modi. Both parties have repeated most tickets, contrary to the claims made in the selection of candidates. However, analysts believe that this time there is neither any wave nor any anti-incumbency against the government.
The BJP has not fielded even a single Muslim candidate and has tried to polarise the Hindu vote bank by giving tickets to sants, mahants and acharyas on Muslim-dominated seats. The Congress has fielded 14 Muslims. It is believed that like last time, this time too, the key to power will be in the hands of the voters of 39 seats of eastern Rajasthan.
On the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project, BJP and Congress have accused each other of stalling the project. Last time, Congress won 35 of 39 seats there. One reason for this was that due to Sachin Pilot being the CM candidate, the inclination of Gujjars was towards the Congress. This time Congress has fielded 12 candidates while BJP has fielded 9 Gujjar candidates. But the situation is different this time due to the division of Gujjar votes.
In the urban and rural areas of the seven divisions, Congress faces the challenge of repeating its previous performance in the Jaipur division. There are 50 assembly seats in 5 districts in the division. There is a tough fight between BJP and Congress on most of the 19 seats in Jaipur district.
There are more than a dozen seats that have turned difficult for the saffron side. The BJP was successful in stopping the rebellion in Jhotwara from where Col Rajyavardhan Rathore is contesting. Diya Kumari of Jaipur royal family is getting the benefit of Vidyadhar Nagar being dominated by Rajputs. She is an MP from Rajsamand and has given a lot of attention to the central leadership of BJP after the sidelining of Vasundhara Raje. From the Laxmangarh seat, BJP has given the ticket to former MP Subhash Maharia. In the Jodhpur division — the centre of politics, Marwar, the stronghold of CM — 13 out of 33 seats remain hot seats.
Parties repeat tickets
Both parties have repeated most tickets, contrary to the claims made in the selection of candidates. However, analysts believe that this time there is neither any wave nor any anti-incumbency against the government. The BJP has not fielded even a single Muslim candidate and has tried to polarise the Hindu vote bank by giving tickets to sants, mahants and acharyas on Muslim-dominated seats. The Congress has fielded 14 Muslims. It is believed that like last time, this time too, the key to power will be in the hands of the voters of 39 seats of eastern Rajasthan. The voting is due November 25. More than 5 crore voters will decide the fate of the candidates.
