Jaipur: Celebrations started early at the BJP state head office here on Sunday as counting of votes progressed and trends from across Rajasthan trickled in. By evening the BJP secured a comfortable majority to wrest power in Rajasthan and the jubilant party workers were on the streets in every corner of the desert state hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
With this result (BJP 115 seats, Congress 69), Rajasthan has once again maintained its tradition of changing governments every five years. “We thank the people of Rajasthan, and the public mandate reiterates the confidence people have in Prime Minister Modi’s government,” said BJP state incharge Arun Singh at a press meet in the evening.
In a huge setback for the Congress, most of its sitting ministers have lost the election. Perhaps, one solace for Congress is that several senior leaders of BJP like Rajendra Rathore, Satish Pooniya and Narpat Singh Rajvi also lost the battle.
Even though the BJP emerged victorious with 115 seats, the contest was very close in nearly two dozen seats. The saffron party got 42 per cent of the votes cast while the Congress garnered nearly 40 per cent.
Elections were held in 199 of the 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan on November 25, 2023. The polling in Karanpur was postponed following the demise of the Congress candidate.
Infighting hits Cong hard
The Ashok Gehlot-Sachin Pilot faction war in Rajasthan apparently cost Congress several seats in this poll. Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot have been at loggerheads for several years and the high command's efforts to pacify the duo apparently failed, resulting in the party losing some bastions.
According to sources, Congress lost Gujjar votes, especially in the eastern Rajasthan region where the community holds influence in around 12 seats. Congress had performed extremely well in this region during the 2018 Assembly polls when Pilot was the Congress state chief. He is also a Gujjar community member. In 2018, Pilot was supposed to be made the CM but later Gehlot donned the mantle.
Anti-incumbency has been a major issue in this elections for both the Congress and BJP MLAs. However, both the parties did not change many sitting MLAs when they allotted tickets. According to sources, earlier surveys had indicated that people were unhappy with around 50 sitting MLAs of the Congress. However, the party changed only 20 sitting MLAs when the tickets were given.
Several ministers lost the battle is a clear indication that people were unhappy with Gehlot's governance.
Freebies rejected
Congress's promises of 10 lakh jobs for youth, minimum support price for farmers, loans for entrepreneurs and subsidy on LPG were apparently not good enough to get the party the required number of seats. These offers were mostly the extension of several populist schemes already announced by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot like free mobile phones for women, two-wheelers for girl students, subsidy on LPG cylinders, 100-unit free electricity per month for domestic connection and 200 unit for agriculture purpose. However, these promises have not made the desired impact on voters this time.
In the postal votes also, the BJP maintained its lead, shattering the assumption that government employees will favour the Congress following Ashok Gehlot’s decision to restore the old pension scheme and extended health insurance coverage for them.
However, the Chiranjeevi health scheme has been a major success among rural public in the state and this has helped the party to give a tough fight to the BJP.
Modi and Jai Shri Ram
In a smart move, the BJP had not projected a CM face for Rajasthan election. The party had made it clear that the election was being fought on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance and this helped the BJP stand united. The PM also addressed several public gatherings and held road shows to induce confidence among party workers and voters.
In the victory processions also, the BJP workers were shouting slogans like "Modi, Modi” and “Jai Shri Ram”. They consciously desisted from hailing any state leader for the win.
