As Congress looks likely to lose yet another state to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), eight independent candidates are leading in their respective seats in Rajasthan on Sunday, widening the gap between the two parties.
Four of the eight independent candidates are BJP rebels who were denied a ticket. Those leading include – Ganeshraj Bansal (Hanumangarh), Prabhudayal Sarswat (Lunkaransar), Mukhtyar Ahmad (Kaman), Dr. Ritu Banawat (Bayana), Yoonus Khan (Deedwana), Ravindra Singh Bhati (Sheo), Dr. Priyanka Chowdhary (Barmer), Chandrabhan Singh Chouhan (Chittorgarh) and Ashok Kumar Kothari (Bhilwara). BJP is currently leading on 115 of the 199 seats up for grabs in the Rajasthan Assembly polls.
Also Read | Rajasthan Election Results Live 2023
Incumbent Congress is currently leading on 68 seats, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is leading on three seats, the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) is leading on two seats, while the CPI (M), the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) were leading on one seat each, as per the latest Election Commission trends.
Denied a ticket by the BJP, many rebels of the saffron party are currently leading in their seats — Yoonus Khan (Deedwana), Dr. Priyanka Chowdhary (Barmer), Chandrabhan Singh Aakya (Chittorgarh), and Ravindra Singh Bhati (Sheo). Most of these candidates are staunch supporters of ex-CM Vasundhara Raje and were denied a ticket by the BJP central leadership. Several supporters had claimed that Ms. Raje was being slowly and steadily being sidelined by the party.
Since 1993, Rajasthan has had a tradition of electing independents– 28 in 1993, 14 in 1998, 24 in 2003, 26 in 2008, 16 in 2013 and 27 in 2018. In the last State election, most independent MLAs supported the Congress CM Ashok Gehlot and helped in upholding his government twice — once in 2020 when Deputy CM Sachin Pilot rebelled against Mr. Gehlot and the other in 2022 when the party’s central leadership wished to tap Mr. Gehlot for the Congress president’s post, thereby giving Mr. Pilot a bigger role in the State. The 12 independent MLAs vocally expressed support for Mr. Gehlot, even threatening to resign, delivering a jolt to the Congress government. Of the 12 MLAs, 10 were those denied a Congress ticket in the 2018 Assembly election, when Mr. Pilot was the Pradesh Congress Committee President. After Congress let Mr. Gehlot remain as CM, six of them were awarded tickets in the 2023 elections.
Currently, both Ms. Raje and Mr. Gehlot are leading from their respective constituencies Jhalrapatan and Sardarpura. Similarly, Mr. Pilot is leading on Tonk seat. However, key BJP candidates like State chief Satish Poonia and MP Rajyavardhan Rathore are trailing in their Amber and Jhotwara seats respectively.
As the BJP storms to power in the State, the question remains as to who will be tapped for the CM post. BJP candidate from Kota north Prahlad Gunjal said, “This will be decided by the party high command. We have big leaders like Vasundhara Raje and we need not bring (anyone) from outside.”
