Despite being in power in Rajasthan, BJP is likely to face a tough contest in 12 constituencies going to the polls on Friday, the first phase of the Lok Sabha election. All these seats are in the northeastern part of the state.
In the recent assembly election, BJP won 115 seats but couldn’t perform well on the 12 LS seats in the northeast region. Of the total 96 assembly segments falling under the 12 LS seats, 47 were won by Congress, 42 by BJP and seven by Independents.
In the first phase of the Lok Sabha election, polling will be held in Jaipur City, Jaipur Rural, Alwar, Churu, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur, Dausa, Karauli-Dholpur, Bharatpur, Bikaner and Sriganganagar seats. Of these, Jaipur city, Dausa, Bharatpur and Bikaner are the seats where BJP had taken the lead in the assembly election; while in Jaipur Rural, Congress and BJP have an equal number of seats.
Congress had the upper hand on the remaining seven seats. During campaigning this time, the focus of the central leadership of BJP was also on these seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held meetings in Jhunjhunu, Jaipur Rural, Karauli-Dholpur, and Pushkar and took out a roadshow in Dausa. Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a road show in Jaipur and a public meeting in Alwar.
Two Union ministers, Arjun Ram Meghwal from Bikaner and Bhupendra Yadav from Alwar, are in the fray in the first phase of polling in Rajasthan. Caste equations dominate in some of the 12 Lok Sabha seats; These include the seats of Sikar, Churu, Jhunjhunu in Shekhawati and Dausa, Karauli and Bharatpur in eastern Rajasthan.
Jats dominate the Shekhawati seats, while Meenas and Gurjars dominate the seats of East Rajasthan. Jats and Meenas are not considered traditional voters of BJP, so the caste equation of these seats is also a challenge for the saffron party.
However, it is no walkover for the Congress. Despite a good performance in the assembly election, Congress has given Sikar and Nagaur seats to CPI(M) and RLP, who are part of the INDIA bloc. Jaipur City, Jaipur Rural, Alwar, Bharatpur, Bikaner, and Ganganagar are such seats where issues like Hindutva may dominate polling.
The internal conflicts of the Congress could derail chances of success in some seats like Jaipur, Nagaur and Bikaner. Political analyst Rajeev Tiwari said this time caste equations seem to be dominating the elections, hence the contests here would be in-teresting.
