Bypoll wins boost CM’S grip on govt, party, say experts

JAIPUR: Rajsamand, BJP’S Deepti Maheshwari defeated Congress candidate Tansukh Bohra by 5,310 votes.

“This election was very important for the internal politics of both the Congress and BJP. The win has strengthened the position of Gehlot and now the voice of the rebel faction will get moderated,” political analyst Manish Godha said. “In the BJP, the faction led by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje will now become more vocal and aggressive as the election was solely led by the current state leadership.”

A senior BJP leader on anonymity said all BJP leaders, from union ministers, MLAS to local leaders, camped on the three seats but the results were not encouraging. The party lost two seats and retained Rajsamand with less margin. “Former CM Raje’s presence may not have helped the BJP win Sahada and Sujangarh, but certainly, she would have reduced the victory margin of the Congress on two seats. Her presence would have sent a message of unity and the cadre would have been more united,” he said.

A senior Congress leader said it was not just sympathy but good governance by state government that played a major role in the bypolls. “There has been an increase in vote share by 10 % for the ruling party, which shows faith of people and party leaders in Gehlot. The results also conveyed a message to the rebel faction inside the party and further strengthened Gehlot at the level of the central leadership,” he said.

‘In BJP, Raje faction will become more vocal as the campaign was mainly led by the state leadership’

htraj@htlive.com

Rajasthan assembly bypoll results have strengthened chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s hold in the state as well as at the level of the Congress’s central leadership, analysts and party leaders say, pointing out that increase in the party’s vote share by 10% shows people’s approval of the Covid management by the state government.

Much of the two-and-a-halfyear tenure of the Gehlot government passed battling Covid.

In the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress got 83,632 votes in Sujangarh, 65,420 in Sahada and 65,086 in Rajsamand, which was 41% of total votes polled. In the by-polls, the vote share of the Congress increased to 51%, according to the Election Commission data.

The state Congress was also able to demonstrate that it could fight elections unitedly despite differences among its top leaders, analysts say. Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot held two rallies with Gehlot in all three assembly constituencies, but the party was able to get a record number of votes in Sahara and Rajsamand constituencies that have good presence of Gujjar voters.

Congress’s increased vote

CM Ashok Gehlot.

ANI share and BJP’S reduced victory margin in Rajsamand has demolished the opposition’s charge that the ruling party has failed on delivering development and maintaining law and order, analysts say. In fact, the state BJP has become more divided than the Congress. Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje stayed away from the bypoll campaign and the party suffered. Central and state leaders like Gulab Chand Kataria, Rajendra Rathore and Satish Poonia together failed to hold the BJP vote share from going down. BJP’S victory in Rajsamand is being attributed more to the emotional appeals made by its candidate Deepti Maheshwari in the name of her deceased mother, former MLA Kiran Maheshwari.

In Sahada (Bhilwara), Congress candidate Gayatri Devi defeated BJP’S Ratanlal Jat with over 42,200 votes. In Sujangarh (Churu), Congress’s Manoj Meghwal defeated BJP’S Khemaram by over 35,611 votes. In