The upcoming 2023 Rajasthan election scheduled for single-phase on November 23 is set to witness a head-to-head contest between the Congress and the BJP. The results for the 200-seat assembly will be determined on December 3, along with the results of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram election results.
Rajasthan elections are mostly based on the anti-incumbency factor , i.e dissatisfaction among voters toward the party or candidate currently in power. Power in Rajasthan has consistently shifted power between the Congress and the BJP since 1993. The power has been rotated between Ashok Gehlot from INC and Vasundhara Raje from BJP since 1998, for more than 25 years, every 5 years the power from the ruling party is shifted to the opposition party..
In the last 2018 election, Ashok Gehlot was elected as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, defeating former CM Vasundhara Raje. The Congress won in 99 out of 199 contested seats, with polling cancelled in one constituency due to a candidate's demise, while the BJP secured 73 seats.
In a significant political development regarding the Rajasthan Elections, On Saturday, both the BJP and Congress announced their lists of candidates for the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections, featuring prominent figures such as Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, former CM Vasundhara Raje, and former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot. BJP released its second list while Congress released its first list.
Congress' First list
The Congress announced its first list of 33 candidates for the 200-member assembly, Among the 33 candidates, 29 are sitting MLAs. The list includes names of many prominent politicians of Rajasthan Congress including Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who is contesting from Sardarpura, constituency of Jodhpur and his former deputy, Sachin Pilot, is contesting from his traditional seat, Tonk. Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi is being nominated to run from Nathdwara, and the State Unit Chief, Govind Singh Dotasra, will be contesting from Lachhmangarh.
The Congress has nominated four candidates in constituencies where they had previously run in the 2018 elections and were defeated by the BJP. These candidates are Archana Sharma (Malviya Nagar, Jaipur), Pushpendra Bhardwaj (Sanganer), Lalit Kumar Yadav (Mundawar), and Vivek Dhakar (Mandalgarh).
Independent MLA Ramila Khadiya, who had previously supported the Gehlot government during the 2020 political crisis, has been nominated as a Congress candidate from her Kushalgarh constituency. Mr. Gehlot recently commended Ms. Khadiya for not switching sides, even with the influence of Money, an attempt at horse-trading.
Among the candidates listed are also mostly loyal to Mr. Pilot such as Indraj Singh Gujjar (Viratnagar), Mukesh Bhakar (Ladnun), and Ramniwas Gawariya (Parbatsar). Additionally, four candidates each were announced for the constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
BJP's Second list
BJP, the party in opposition, revealed the second list on 21 october, nominating 83 candidates for the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly polls, bringing the total number of nominees to 124 out of the 200 available seats.
Notably, the former Chief Minister, Ms. Vasundhara Raje, has been nominated to contest from the Jhalrapatan constituency, her traditional seat where she has consistently won since 2003. The BJP has strategically nominated Ms. Raje's loyals to balancing their representation after the first list appeared to sideline them. Ms. Raje's supporter and former Minister Narpat Singh Rajvi, who was previously dropped from his Vidyadhar Nagar seat in Jaipur, has been awarded a ticket to contest from Chittorgarh.
t's worth noting that unlike the first list, the second list did not have any names of sitting MPs, BJP revealed its 1st list on October 9, including seven Members of Parliament (MPs) out of a total of 41 candidates.
Other candidates include- Satish Poonia, from the Amber constituency, Rajendra Rathod from Taranagar constituency, Jyoti Mirdha for the Nagaur seat. From the State Cabinet, Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, re-nominated to contest from Bagidora, Mamta Bhupesh from Sikrai, and Tika Ram Jully from Alwar Rural constituency. Ministers of State Ashok Chandna and Bhanwar Singh Bhati will also be seeking re-election, with Chandna from Hindoli and Bhati from Kolayat.
Mr. Rajvi, who is the son-in-law of the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, a prominent BJP figure and former Vice President, has expressed his disappointment over being replaced by Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari. He had previously secured victory in the Chittorgarh constituency twice, first in 1993 and then again in 2003.
Vishwaraj Singh Mewar, a descendant of Maharana Pratap Singh, who recently joined the party, has been nominated to contest from Nathdwara, a constituency that was secured by the veteran Congress leader C P Joshi in the 2018 election.
A significant meeting took place on Friday to discuss and decide the potential candidates for the upcoming Rajasthan elections, with the presence of prominent BJP leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BL Santhosh, Pralhad Joshi, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kailash Chaudhary, Satish Poonia, CP Joshi, Arun Singh, Kuldeep Bishnoi, and Rajendra Rathore. Co-election in-charge Nitin Patel and co-incharge Vijaya Rahatkart.
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