Will Rajasthan vote out the incumbent once again?
THE HIGH DECIBEL CAMPAIGN SAW RALLIES BY TOP PARTY LEADERS. PM NARENDRA MODI ADDRESSED 12 PUBLIC MEETINGS. CONGRESS PRESIDENT RAHUL GANDHI ADDRESSED 11 RALLIES IN THREE DAYS
JAIPUR:WHILE exit polls have predicted a win for the Congress in the 200-seat strong Rajasthan assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is confident that it will retain power, even as the December 7 poll results will be declared on Tuesday.
In 2013, the BJP won 163 seats with 45.17% vote share — its highest ever victory in the state. In contrast, the Congress won 21 seats with 33.07% vote share.
Yet, a curious trend has emerged in Rajasthan in the past 20 years, where neither the BJP nor the Congress has come to power for a consecutive term.
Congress top leaders are expected to reach Jaipur on Monday night.
“The party leaders will monitor results from a special war room created in the party office,” said a senior Congress leader, who did not wish to be named. State Congress committee chief Sachin Pilot and former state CM Ashok Gehlot will be there too.
In case of a win, the Congress will hold a meeting of its victorious legislators on Wednesday.
The BJP has called a meeting of its core committee members, including chief minister Vasundhara Raje, on Tuesday after the results, party leaders said.
“On the basis of feedback from our workers, we are confident of forming the government again,” BJP state president Madan Lal Saini said.
Since 1998, the BJP and Congress have alternately formed the state government. While the last four Assembly elections witnessed a fight between Raje and Gehlot, this time around Pilot was in the fray, too.
The two-time Lok Sabha MP who contested his first assembly election this year steered the party to several bypoll wins.
This included two Lok Sabha seats of Ajmer and Alwar, and one assembly seat of Mandalgarh in February 2018, besides three other assembly seats in 2014, shortly after general elections which saw the BJP come to power.
The February by-election results served as a wake-up call for the Raje government. Tues- day’s outcome will further determine whether she can tide over a strong anti-incumbency wave. Raje has also faced criticism for being inaccessible.
Starting September, BJP national president Amit Shah held meetings with state party workers.
In August, Raje set off on a ‘Gaurav Yatra’ that covered 123 assembly constituencies. The party also got in touch with beneficiaries of the state and centre welfare schemes before the elections.
The high decibel campaign saw rallies by top party leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 12 public meetings in six days.
Raje addressed 75 meetings in 15 days of campaigning.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed 11 rallies in three days.
Pilot, who had undertaken a 100-km march in Raje’s home turf of Jhalawar last year, contested from Tonk, where the Congress has fielded a Muslim candidate for the last 46 years. In response, the BJP fielded Yunus Khan.
In Jhalrapatan, a constituency Raje has held since 2003, the Congress fielded Rajput strongman and former BJP MLA Manvendra Singh, whose exit from the party was touted to be a result of friction with Raje.