In another major setback to the BJP after the assembly polls, the saffron party’s tally came down to four from 21. One seat has gone to an independent candidate. Notable winners from the Congress include Rajasthan PCC president Dr C P Joshi who defeated his nearest rival V P Singh of the BJP from Bhilwara by a thumping margin of 1,35,368 votes, Union minister Shish Ram Ola who won from Jhunjhunu for the fifth term in a row by a margin of 65,332 votes and National Women’s Commission chairperson Girija Vyas who defeated BJP’s sitting MP Sri Chand Kriplani from Chittorgarh with a margin of 72,778 votes.
Chandresh Kumari, Congress leader from Himachal Pradesh, wrested the seat from BJP’s Jaswant Singh Bishnoi on Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s home turf Jodhpur. She foiled Bishnoi’s bid for a hat-trick by winning with 98,329 votes. Pali, another prestigious seat in the Marwar region, was captured by Badri Prasad Jakhad with a record margin of over 1.96 lakh votes.
Sachin Pilot defeated Kiran Maheshwari in Ajmer by a comfortable margin of 76,135 votes while the Nagaur seat in the Marwar division saw the return of Mirdha dynasty with the maiden victory of Jyoti Mirdha by a whopping margin of over 1.55 lakh votes.
Even some of BJP’s strongest bastions like Jaipur and Kota have been crumbled. The Congress managed to win the heart of Jaipur voters after the death of their most favourite Girdhari Lal Bhargava of the BJP who won the constituency since 1989 for a record six consecutive terms. Mahesh Joshi of the Congress made his debut entry by defeating former BJP minister Ghanshyam Tiwari from the Jaipur (city) seat while the newly formed Jaipur (rural) seat also went to the Congress.
Apart from Chandresh Kumari, sister of former Jodhpur ruler Gajsingh, the voters gave a generous verdict to the new royal face in Kota. While Ijyeraj Singh, the scion of Kota royal family made his debut in politics by a record margin of 83,093, Jitendra Singh, the scion of Alwar royal family, also registered his maiden entry by crumbling the Yadav bastion in an impressive win by 1,56,619 votes.
Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s son Dushyant Singh managed to retain his mother’s prestige on the Jhalawar-Baran constituency with his second consecutive victory. In one of the most difficult fights, Dushyant Singh defeated state minister Pramod Jain Bhaya’s wife Urmila Jain Bhaya with a comfortable margin of 52,841votes.
The BJP’s other winners include two new entrants—Arjun Ram Meghwal, Bikaner and Devji Patel, Jalore—and Ram Singh Kaswan who made a hat-trick in Churu winning a close triangular fight.
Gurjar leader Qamar Rabbani Chechi from Jammu and Kashmir failed to end Meena hegemony in Dausa as he lost to Kirori Lal Meena (independent) with 137759 votes.
BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra Singh miserably lost his Barmer seat to Harish Choudhury of the Congress with a whopping margin of 1,19,106 votes.
Similarly, the Congress made a dent in saffron party’s stronghold in Sikar where Mahadev Sing Khandela defeated Subhash Maharia of the BJP by 1,49,426 votes.
At least five sitting MPs of the BJP failed to make their hat-trick. Veteran leader Buta Singh, who entered the fray as an independent from the Jalore constituency also lost by a margin of 49, 805 votes.