All eyes on Nagaur, Churu, as stage set for polling in 12 Rajasthan seats tomorrow

Twelve of 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan will go to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday (April 19). A Union minister is among the 114 candidates in the fray.

Polling will be held in 12 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats – Churu, Nagaurm, Ganganagar, Jhunjhunu, Bikaner, Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur and Dausa, from 7 am to 6 pm.

According to chief electoral officer Praveen Gupta, a total of 2.54 crore voters are set to vote in the first phase on Friday.

The BJP won all 25 seats in Rajasthan on its own in 2014, and in 2019, NDA won 25 seats, the saffron party won 24 seats and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) emerged victorious on one seat. The RLP, which was earlier with NDA, is now part of the INDIA bloc.

Key constituencies

One of the key constituencies, Nagaur, is set to witness a keen contest between the Congress-backed Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) chief Hanuman Beniwal against BJP candidate and former Congress MP Jyoti Mirdha.

Interestingly, Beniwal had defeated Mirdha, who was then a Congress candidate, with the BJP’s support in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, Beniwal parted ways with the NDA in 2020 over the issue of farmer's agitation.

In Churu Lok Sabha constituency, former BJP MP Rahul Kaswan is contesting as Congress candidate against BJP candidate Devendra Jhajharia. Kaswan raised a banner of revolt and walked out of the BJP after being denied the ticket. The Congress soon inducted him the party fold and fielded him from Churu.

Dalit leader and Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, who has been representing Bikaner Lok Sabha seat since 2009, is contesting the Lok Sabha elections for fourth time. He is pitted against Congress candidate and former state minister Govind Ram Meghwal.

In Sikar, the Congress' INDIA bloc partner, CPI(M), has fielded former MLA Amra Ram against the BJP's incumbent MP Sumedanand Saraswati. Amra Ram had been an MLA from the Danta Ramgarh and the Dhod seats.

Sikar is the hometown of the Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra. Of the eight assembly segments in Sikar, five are with the Congress.

Congress vs BJP

During the election campaign, the ruling BJP mainly focused on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the work done by his government in various sectors, including infrastructure and schemes like Ujjawala.

The party also promoted its Sankalp Patra and highlighted Modi's “guarantees”. The saffron party, which came to power in the state in December last year, also targeted Congress over issues such as corruption, paper leaks, and crime against women during the previous Congress government in the state.

The party's campaign was led by Modi, who held multiple rallies in the state, including a roadshow in Dausa. Union Minister Amit Shah also held a roadshow in Jaipur. BJP Chief JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Mohan Yadav, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also addressed public rallies in the state.

On the other hand, Congress raised the issues of misuse of central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and CBI against opposition leaders and said the Constitution and democracy were under threat under the BJP rule.

The grand old party also focused its election campaign on inflation and unemployment.

In its Nyay Patra, the party promised to fill 30 lakh vacancies in government jobs, one-year apprenticeship programmes for young graduates, and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for crops.

Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge, leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and other leaders conducted a series of campaign meetings for the party's candidates across the state.

The remaining 13 constituencies of Rajasthan will go to polls in the second phase on April 26. Among these Lok Sabha segments are Tonk, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota and Jhalawar.

(With agency inputs)