High voting percentage observed in polarised constituencies in Rajasthan

Jaipur: Rajasthan, which voted on November 25, has witnessed bumper voting in certain constituencies, where polarisation may have played a big role.

Some constituencies where BJP put up Hindu seers saw Congress countering with Muslim candidates. The voting percentages in these constituencies have gone up.

Pokhran in Jaisalmer district witnessed the second highest voting in the state, recording a whopping 87.79 per cent turn out this year. Pokhran has always seen a higher voter turnout as it recorded 87.50 per cent in 2018. A rural constituency with 18.8 per cent Muslim population (2011 Census), poll observers say here Muslims vote as a block. Congress has reposed its faith in its sitting MLA and minister Shale Mohammad, who won with 48.22 per cent vote share in 2018. Shale’s father Gazi Fakir is a religious leader and influential amongst the Sindhi Muslims.

BJP, on the other hand, has put up Hindu seer Mahant Pratap Puri of Taratara Math in Barmer district. He lost to Shale Mohammad in 2018 by a narrow margin, garnering at least 47.71 per cent of votes. A spiritual leader, the Mahant has been active politically. Mahant Pratap Puri is also one of the richest saints in the state, with assets worth Rs 3.39 crore, accrued only from puja and agriculture.

Alwar’s Tijara constituency, which has Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s protege Mahant Balaknath as the BJP candidate, also recorded heavy voting, the third highest in the state. It recorded a voting percentage of 86.11 per cent this year, much higher than 82.08 per cent in 2018. Congress’s Imran Khan is pitted against him in this constituency dominated by 38 per cent Meo Muslims, who have around one lakh votes.

The constituency has at least 62 per cent Hindu votes, which includes SC, Yadav, Gujjar, Saini, and Vaishya votes. It also has around 12,000 Sikh votes. Yogi Adityanath visited Tijara twice and spoke about the Congress’s political appeasement, Udaipur tailor Kanhaiyalal’s murder, his bulldozer politics, and the 'Taliban tendencies' of a specific community.

Trying to create a divide amongst the two major communities, the leaders perhaps have been able to polarise effectively, indicated by the high turnout. In 2013, BJP won from Tijara, garnering 47.67 per cent vote share. But in 2018, BJP could manage only 22.53 per cent of votes and came in third. BSP candidate Sandeep Kumar had then won the Tijara seat with a 32.4 per cent vote share.

The voting percentages have also gone up in the constituencies which Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to through rallies, especially in Jaipur, where he held a roadshow touching three constituencies.

Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal constituency, considered a political bellwether, has another firebrand Hindu seer Balmukund Acharya as the BJP’s candidate, while the Congress has fielded veteran leader R R Tiwari. The constituency recorded a high turnout of 76.3 per cent this year as against 72.90 per cent in 2018.

The constituency, which has over 34 per cent Muslim population, also witnessed the killing of a Muslim youth over a minor road accident, which had created tension in the area. But it has a sizable Hindu population divided amongst Brahmins, Vaishyas, SC and ST voters. Tiwari, 70, who is fighting his first election, is up against Balmukund, who is going all out with his Hindu rhetoric to get the Hindu voters on his side and has promised to renovate the Hindu temples in the area. In 2018, Congress’s Mahesh Joshi, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s confidant, who has been denied the ticket this time, had won with a 50.38 per cent vote share.

Jaipur’s Kishanpole constituency recorded a voter turnout of 76.87 per cent in 2023 as against 71.90 per cent in 2018. Congress’s Amin Kagzi is contesting against the BJP’s new face Chandra Manohar Batwara, who considers Modi a “divyapurush,” and claims Modi’s rally has helped push voters’ sentiment towards the BJP.

Deedwana is another constituency that has come into focus after BJP leader and Vasundhara Raje loyalist Yunus Khan was denied a ticket. He is now fighting as an Independent. The constituency, with over 18 per cent Muslim voters, recorded a voting percentage of 73.43 per cent this year as against 71.44 per cent in 2018. BJP’s Jitendra Singh Jodha is up against Congress’s Chetan Singh Choudhary in this three-cornered fight.

“Polarisation between the communities is one of the factors for this bounty voting. Voters got aligned along caste and religion. Not just the Muslims voted as a block, even Hindus came together to vote as a block in Tijara where the Yadav community backed Balaknath in large numbers. Added to it was Prime Minister Modi’s roadshows and rallies, where the focus was on polarisation through Udaipur tailor Kanhaiyalal murder, Congress’s minority appeasement policy and the invitation to the inauguration of Ram Mandir in January 2024. BJP had also fielded leaders like Hemanta Biswa Sharma and Yogi Adityanath who spoke about Hinduism and Sanatan Dharma,” political analyst Narayan Bareth told Deccan Herald.