Rajasthan : By-elections are going to be held on 7 assembly seats in Rajasthan. There is a possibility that the Election Commission will announce the dates today. Elections are going to be held on Ramgarh, Dausa, Jhunjhunu, Deoli Uniara, Khinvsar, Chaurasi and Salumber assembly seats of the state. Out of these seven, only one seat, Salumber, was with BJP. The remaining 4 are occupied by Congress and 2 by other parties. Now that BJP is in power, it will have to win these seats. This is the second test of Bhajan Lal government after Lok Sabha.
The special thing is that in this by-election, there are possibilities of triangular contest on many seats. This will be a different thing in the political arena of Rajasthan dominated by two parties. Let us know the condition of these seven seats.
1. Dausa
Dausa seat has become vacant after former Congress MLA Murarilal Meena became MP. Congress wants to retain this stronghold of its seat. Murarilal Meena is considered close to Sachin Pilot. BJP leader Kirori Lal Meenaka also has influence here. Kirori has also been an MP from Dausa Lok Sabha seat. In the last assembly elections, Murari had defeated Shankar Lal Sharma by 31,204 votes.
2. Khinvsar
Khinvsar seat in Nagaur district has been a very popular seat. This seat became vacant after former RLP MLA Hanuman Beniwal became MP. This seat is one of those where there can be a triangular contest. However, Hanuman Beniwal had contested the Lok Sabha elections under the banner of INDIA alliance. But they have not formed an alliance with the Congress party. This seat has been dominated by Hanuman Beniwal. However, he was able to win the last assembly elections by a very small margin. Beniwal defeated Ravatram Danga by 2059 votes.
3. Deoli-Uniara
Deoli-Uniara seat falling in Tonk district has become vacant after former Congress MLA Harish Meena became MP. Congress would like to win this seat at any cost. This seat is also very important for Sachin Pilot. Because Sachin Pilot himself is an MLA from Tonk, MP Harish Meena is considered close to Pilot. In the last election, Harish Meena defeated BJP candidate Vijay Bainsla by 19,175 votes.
4. Jhunjhunu
This seat became vacant after Congress MLA Brijendra Ola became MP. This has traditionally been considered a Congress seat. The challenge for Congress is to maintain the streak of winning the seat and for BJP to demolish its stronghold. Sachin is at stake with Pilot on this seat, because Brijendra Ola is also considered close to Pilot. Ola had defeated BJP candidate Bablu Chaudhary by 28,863 votes in the last election.
5. Ramgarh
Ramgarh seat of Alwar has become vacant due to the death of Congress MLA Zuber Khan. Here there has been equal competition between Congress and BJP. BJP’s Gyan Dev Ahuja has been MLA from Ramgarh seat thrice and Zubair Khan has been MLA four times. Only two families have ruled here for almost 3 decades. Here Hindu-Muslim social equations dominate the elections, hence saving this seat became a challenge for Congress. In the last assembly elections, Zubair Khan had defeated Sukhwant Singh of Azad Samaj Party by about 19 thousand votes. BJP stood third here. In such a situation, once again a triangular contest is expected.
6. Eighty-four seats
This seat became vacant after Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) MLA Rajkumar Rot became MP. A triangular contest is expected here too. BAP has been winning this seat twice in a row. In the last election, Roat had defeated Sushil Katara by about 70 thousand votes. Congress was at number three.
7. Salumber
Salumber seat of Udaipur has become vacant due to the death of BJP MLA Amritlal Meena. Of the 7 by-election seats, only Salumber was with BJP. In such a situation, BJP faces a big challenge to save the seat. In the last election, Amrit Lal Meena had defeated Raghuveer Meena of Congress by about 14 thousand votes.
