JAIPUR, DHNS: The Bharatiya Janta Party has once again repeated its performance of 2014 by winning all 25 Lok Sabha seats. However, this time the vote share of the saffron party in Rajasthan which is 58.45 is three-percent more as compared to the last general elections.
Despite Congress winning 100 seats in the assembly polls five months ago, it failed to sweep a single seat in the Lok Sabha polls results of which were declared on Thursday. The BJP won 24 seats out of 25 and in Nagaur where the party was in coalition with Hanuman Beniwal's RLP, it won by defeating Congress candidate Jyoti Mirdha.
"People of Rajasthan have voted for Pro incumbency by bringing BJP to power in all 25 seats in Rajasthan. In assembly elections the sentiment was against the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje which is why the numbers did not translate as a victory for Congress", a senior BJP leader told DH. Soon after the results were declared Raje was the first one to reach the BJP headquarters where she interacted with media. "This is a historic win for the BJP and the credit goes to Modi ji's leadership and Amit Shah. Its a lesson to learn how their leadership has put the nation first," Raje said at BJP headquarters in Jaipur. During the Lok Sabha polls, many incidents suggested that Raje has been sidelined by the party's central leadership but despite that, she was first to reach the party's office.
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The BJP's landslide victory in Rajasthan has surprised the political analysts as the trend was contrary to the common belief that mandate comes in favour of the ruling party in the state. The state saw several pitched battles in various constituencies. A high voltage election campaign was held by both BJP and Congress. The saffron primarily campaigning in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a stable government and national security, and the Congress highlighted local issues and failures of the BJP at the center.
Infighting in Congress?
The Congress office wore a deserted look, with senior leaders not turning up at the party office. Only a few party workers were seen anxiously waiting for the results. In some of the major constituencies such as Jodhpur, CM Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot lost to Gajendra Singh Shekhawat by a margin of 2 lakh votes. Similarly, in Barmer, BJP Veteran Jaswant Singh's son lost with a margin of 1.5 lakh votes. In another crucial constituency in Jaipur rural which witnessed the battle between two Olympians, former union minister of I & B Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore of BJP won by defeating Congress candidate and commonwealth discus thrower Krishna Poonia.
While many held party infighting a reason behind the poor performance of Congress in Rajasthan, the chief minister Ashok Gehlot took on to Twitter to express his views, "I thank the general public and party workers and believe that public's decision is the supreme decision. Congress has always valued the nation above politics. Under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the party workers dedicated themselves for a fair electoral. Meanwhile, Narendra Modi gained victory on the basis of religion and caste politics".
Two ex-royals won
Similarly, two out of three erstwhile royals won in Rajasthan. Former union minister and ex-royal of Jitendra Singh lost to BJP's candidate Mahant Balaknath, a priest in Alwar. However, the other two ex-royals contesting from BJP won, which includes Vasundhara Raje's son Dushyant Singh from Jhalawar Baran for the fourth time and erstwhile royal of Jaipur Diya Kumari from Rajsamand in her maiden electoral debut for MP polls.
2019
BJP - 24
RLP (an ally of BJP ) - 1 seat
Congress - ZERO
2014
BJP - 25
Congress - ZERO
2018 bypolls
BJP lost Ajmer and Alwar
Congress won both
Vote share
BJP{58.45%}
BSP{1.08%}
CPI{0.14%}
CPM{0.20%}
INC{34.26%}
NOTA{1.01%}
SHS{0.05%}
BIG WINS - union ministers who won
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - Jaipur Rural
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
PP Choudhary - Pali
Arjun Ram Meghawal - Bikaner
Others in BJP
Diya Kumari - Rajsamand - First timer
Dushyant Singh (Raje's son) - Fourth time
BIG LOSS - Congress
Gehlot's son - Vaibhav Gehlot - Jodhpur
Olympian Krishna Poonia - Jaipur Rural
Manvendra Singh - Barmer
Jitendra Singh - Alwar