Ten months after the Assembly polls were held in Rajasthan, the desert state is once again abuzz with electoral politics, with the announcement of bypolls for seven constituencies. The stakes are high for the ruling BJP as well as the opposition Congress.
Six out of the seven seats were held by INDIA bloc members, out of which five were elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year. The sixth MLA, Zubair Ahmed from the Ramgarh constituency, had passed away. Salumbar's BJP MLA Amritlal Meena also died a few months ago.
Brijendra Singh Ola, Murari Lal Meena and Harish Chandra Meena from Jhunjhunu, Deoli and Uniara constituencies were elected to Lok Sabha on a Congress ticket.
Similarly, Hanuman Beniwal of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) had resigned from the Khimsar Assembly seat and Rajkumar Roat of Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) resigned as MLA from Chorasi. Both Beniwal and Roat were elected to the Lok Sabha from Nagaur and Banswara as INDIA bloc candidates in June 2024.
While Congress is confident of retaining the seats, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to win the seats slated for polls. After a thumping victory in neighbouring Haryana, the BJP cadre is feeling enthusiastic. For Congress, the challenge is whether it can retain the seats independently or by allying with the RLP or BAP.
Unlike Lok Sabha polls, the pre-poll alliance for Congress with both BAP and RLP could be tricky. Both parties, who otherwise are a part of the INDIA grouping would want to contest independently. In Jhunjhunu, where RLP enjoys huge support, it would not want to share the seat with Congress, similarly, in the Salumber constituency in Dungarpur, a tribal district and also bastion for BAP, the party would want its candidate.
According to sources in the Congress, the party is yet to decide whether the help of BAP and RLP will be beneficial for them to retain seats in the seven constituents or not.
Speculations are rife that Beniwal, who had won by just over 2,000 votes in the 2023 Assembly polls from Khimsar, may field his wife or brother this time in the by-polls. One of the names doing the rounds for the BJP is Jyoti Mirdha, who had lost both Assembly polls and Lok Sabha polls after joining the BJP last year.
Similarly in Chorasi and Salumber constituencies, the Bharat Adivasi Party may continue to expand by shrinking the BJP and Congress. The victory of Rajkumar Roat, elected as an MP from Banswara earlier this year, has filled the party with a new zeal.
With the dates being announced, Congress state president Govind Dotasra told the media, "BJP will get zero seats in the by-polls. In the last ten months of BJP government, the people of Rajasthan have felt completely disappointed and are distressed. The government is acting like a circus."
As per official data by ECI, there are 1,862 polling stations and 19,36,532 voters in the seven assembly seats that will go for bypolls in November. The last date for filing nominations is October 25, for scrutiny October 28, and for withdrawing nominations on October 30. Voting will take place on November 13 and counting will take place on November 23.
Currently, the 200-seat state assembly has 114 MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party, 65 of the Congress, three of the Bharat Adivasi Party, two of the Bahujan Samaj Party, one of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, and eight Independent MLAs.
