Rajasthan: BJP looks set to wrest state; Vasundhara Raje wins by big margin

The BJP appeared set to wrest Rajasthan from the Congress on Sunday (December 3) with counting trends around 3 pm showing the party leading in 111 seats, way past the Congress, which was ahead in 73 constituencies. The BJP had won five seats by that time, while the Congress had one in its kitty.

If the initial trends released by the Election Commission (EC) hold, the party is comfortably past the halfway mark of 100. Polling was held for 199 of the 200 seats in the state Assembly on November 25.

At 3 pm, trends showed the BSP had leads in three seats, while the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) had won one seat and was leading in another. The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) was leading in two seats. Independent candidates were leading in seven constituencies.

Vasundhara Raje, Diya Kumari win

BJP leader and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, with 138,831 votes, won the Jhalrapatan seat by 53,193 votes against her Congress rival Ramlal Chouhan.

Party colleague Diya Kumari, with 158,516 votes, won the Vidhyadhar Nagar constituency by 71,368 votes against the Congress’s Sitaram Agarwal.

In Tijara, another high-profile BJP candidate, Mahant Balak Nath, was leading with 92,023 votes against Imran Khan of the Congress who had 89,429 votes around 3pm. The margin was merely 2,594 votes.

In Nimbahera, BJP candidate Shrichand Kriplani was leading with 112,675 votes against his Congress rival Anjana Udayalal by 3,396 votes.

Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi was trailing behind his BJP rival Vishvaraj Singh Mewar in Rajsamand district’s Nathdwara seat by 8,009 votes. Joshi had got 82,603 votes against Mewar’s 90,612, the EC website showed around 3 pm.

In Kota North, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal, after lagging behind BJP candidate Prahlad Gunjal, took the lead in the afternoon. Dhariwal had got 81,561 votes around 3 pm while Gunjal had 79,737 votes.

In the Sawai Madhopur seat, BJP’s Kirodi Lal Meena was leading by a margin of 17,232 votes against his Congress rival Danish Abrar. Meena, Rajya Sabha MP, was leading with 55,944 votes in 14 of 19 rounds, according to the EC website.

Congress leaders looking at win

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of the Congress was leading in the Sardarpura seat by a margin of 26,396 votes. According to the EC trends, Gehlot was leading with 96,859 votes against nearest rival Mahendra Singh Rathore of the BJP, who was trailing with 70,463 around 3pm.

Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot took a lead of 22,198 votes around 3 pm from rival Ajit Singh Mehta of BJP. While Pilot had 90,689 votes, Mehta’s vote count read 68,491.

In the Bansur seat, Rajasthan minister Shakuntala Rawat of the Congress lost her early lead dramatically to trail behind BJP candidate Devi Singh Shekhawat (61,605 votes) and Rohitash Kumar of the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) (54,185 votes) by 3 pm.

Among other Congress leaders who were leading were Mahendra Jeet Singh Malvia in the Bagidora seat (85,587 votes/margin 29,087) and Tikaram Jully from Alwar Rural seat (108,548 votes/27,333).

Minister Brijendra Ola of the Congress was leading in Jhunjhunu with 81,536 votes, by a margin of 26,768 votes.

Jhotwara saw a dramatic U-turn, with the Congress’s Abhishek Choudhary losing his early lead against BJP candidate Rajyavardhan Rathore to trail him by 3 pm. According to EC data, at 3 pm, Rathore was leading with 146,440 votes, and Choudhary was trailing by 50,385 votes, with 96,055 votes in his kitty.

The Amber seat also saw a roller-coaster ride, with Congress candidate Prashant Sharma first leading against BJP rival Satish Poonia in the morning, then trailing him around midday and then again taking the lead in the afternoon. At 3 pm, Sharma had 108,914 votes, while Poonia had 99,822, EC data showed.

In the Lacchmangarh seat, BJP’s Subhash Maharia was trailing by 10,832 votes behind PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra. Dotasra, with 64,584 votes, was leading after 13 of 24 rounds.

BJP jubilant

As the trends poured in, BJP candidate from Kota North, Prahlad Gunjal, said the BJP was going to form the government.

“Rajasthan has given the mandate and the picture will become clear in sometime,” he said.

When asked who will be the CM, he said, “This will be decided by the party high command. We have big leaders like Vasundhara Raje and we need not bring from outside.” Gunjal is contesting against parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal.

Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat took a jibe at Chief Minister Gehlot, saying people have come out of the spell of the “magician”.

“The ‘magic’ has ended and Rajasthan has come out of the spell of the magician. People have voted for the honour of women and for the welfare of the poor,” he said.

Gehlot was born into a family of magicians and assisted his father during his tours.

“People have failed the guarantees of Congress. They have voted to throw corrupt Congress out,” Shekhawat told reporters.

He asserted that the BJP will be forming the government in the state with a huge mandate.

Counting preparations

Counting of votes polled in the November 25 Assembly elections in Rajasthan got underway at 8 am amid tight security arrangements.

Postal ballots were being counted first, followed by the Electronic Voting Machines.

A total of 36 counting centres have been set up 199 of the state’s 200 Assembly constituencies which went to poll. Election to the Sriganganagar’s Karanpur seat was postponed due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar.

As many as 1,862 candidates are in the fray for 199 seats. Election to the Sriganganagar’s Karanpur seat was postponed due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar.

While 30 election districts have one counting centre, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Nagaur have two centres each. “All District Election Officers, Police Commissioners, and Superintendents of Police have been instructed to strictly follow the security protocol at the counting centre,” CEO Gupta said.

He said three-tier security arrangements have been ensured at the counting venue and only those with authorised passes would be able to enter.

“Separate counting halls have been made for each Assembly seat at the counting centre, where as per the instructions of the Commission, tables have been arranged for counting of postal ballots and EVMs,” he said.

Incumbent Congress and its rival Congress conducted intense poll campaign and are both hopeful of forming a government.

While most of pollsters predicted an edge for the BJP, three exit polls in their upper limit forecast a Congress win in the desert state.

(With agency inputs)