The poll bugle for the by-elections to seven assembly seats of Rajasthan has been sounded and the voting will be held on November 13. The seats where the by-polls will be held are Jhunjhunu, Ramgarh, Dausa, Deoli Uniara, Khinvsar, Salumbhar, and Chaurasi. The BJP has announced the names of candidates for six assembly seats and the name of the candidate for the Chaurasi assembly seat remains to be announced. Among the candidates nominated by the BJP, two leaders have been party rebels. Jhunjhunu candidate Rajendra Bhambu and Ramgarh candidate Sukhwant Singh rebelled against the BJP in the November 2023 assembly elections. On the other hand, Rajendra Gurjar, former MLA from Deoli Uniara and Revantram Danga from Khinvsar have been given tickets again. Playing the sympathy card on the Salumbhar seat, Shanta Devi Meena, wife of late MLA Amrit Lal, who died a few months ago, has been given a chance.
Trouble in BJP?
It may be noted that these by-polls are being seen as a litmus test for the ruling BJP government in the state, which recently lost 11 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP leadership is taking this by-election as a test and does not want to take any risk. The party has thus ensured winnability in ticket distribution and by giving a ticket to the defeated Kheenvsar candidate Revatram, it was indicated that if there is a possibility of victory, he will not be sidelined. The party did not refrain from giving tickets to the family members of the leaders who were ahead in the internal survey, said a party insider.
As soon as the BJP announced the candidates for the by-elections on six assembly seats, voices of protest started rising. Out of these six assembly seats, party leaders have rebelled on four assembly seats. These include leaders who were the party’s candidates during the assembly elections held in 2023. Now these leaders are angry with the party for ignoring them and making other leaders the candidates. The senior leaders of the party are now trying to persuade the angry leaders. BJP has declared Rajendra Bhambu as its candidate for the Jhunjhunu assembly seat. In the last election, Bhambu had rebelled against the party and contested as an independent candidate. Bablu Chaudhary, who was the party candidate from here, is now angry with Bhambu for giving the ticket.
The BJP has changed candidates on all seats except Khinvsar. Bablu Chaudhary, the candidate from Jhunjhunu in the last election, has been denied a ticket and given to Rajendra Bhambu. On the Deoli-Uniyara seat, former MLA Rajendra Gurjar has been made the candidate by denying the ticket of Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsala’s son and 2023 candidate Vijay Bainsala. Former MLA from Dausa and previous candidate Shankar Lal Sharma’s ticket has been denied, and Kirori Lal Meena’s brother and former RAS Jagmohan Meena has been given a ticket. Jai Ahuja’s ticket has been denied from Ramgarh’s seat, and Sukhwant Singh, the candidate who lost in 2018, has been given a chance.
Congress has yet to declare the list
After the BJP’s success in the Haryana elections, the atmosphere is not the same as before within the Congress. There is also psychological pressure on the Congress party after the BJP announced its list first. BJP was ahead in giving tickets in the assembly elections of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The Congress has always given tickets at the last moment, and it also suffers losses.
The Congress has, however, started preparing for the by-elections and several rounds of meetings are going on in Delhi and Jaipur to decide on candidates in all the seven assembly constituencies. Although the names of the candidates have not been announced by the party yet, all the remaining preparations have been completed. Congress has deployed a large army of about 50 big leaders to ensure a win on all 7 seats. The Congress has given responsibility to 4 people in the PCC Headquarters Committee, 6 people in the Media Committee and 7 people in the War Room Committee for the by-elections. Congress has also appointed 14 organization in-charges, 28 election in-charges and 7 senior observers in the state. MLAs and organization officials have been given responsibility in these. 16 leaders have been included in the three committees formed by the Congress in view of the elections.
The last date for nomination of candidates is October 25 and the Congress is struggling to release the list. After the BJP announced its candidates in Dausa and Salumbhar, the concern for Congress has increased in these two seats as well. In such a situation, it seems that the party may take two to three days to declare names.
Additionally, the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) announced its candidates on the Chaurasi and Salumbhar seats, and RLP supremo Hanuman Beniwal also demanded one more seat along with Khinvsar. On Monday, the Congress decided to go alone in the by-polls, wherein PCC Chief Govind Singh Dotasara said that there will be no alliance in Rajasthan and the party will contest on all seven seats while adding that the “INDIA alliance is in Delhi, not in Rajasthan.” It may be noted that the party had entered an alliance with BAP in the 2023 Assembly polls.
