Rajasthan

The royal state of Rajasthan is the largest state in terms of area and sends 25 elected members to the lower house of the Parliament or Lok Sabha.

Supriya Jha

  • The royal state of Rajasthan is the largest state in terms of area and sends 25 elected members to the lower house of the Parliament or Lok Sabha.
  • The contest for 25 parliamentary constituencies will be held in two phased on  17 April (Phase 5) and 24 April (Phase 6).
  • Barmer in Rajasthan, which created much furore within BJP recently, is the largest parliamentary constituency in Rajasthan and second largest constituency in India.
  • Some other major parliamentary constituencies in the state are Dausa, Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur and Kota.
  • Rajasthan`s politics has been dominated by two leading parties - the BJP and the Congress – with anti-incumbency and factors of development and governance playing big role in elections.
  • In last Lok Sabha polls, the saffron party had been badly trounced by the Congress which swept the polls by winning 20 seats out of 25, leaving the BJP with 4 seats, while one seat was bagged by an independent.
  • The BJP`s loss in 2009 was cause mainly by BJP infightings and evident corruption in Vasundhara Raje government.
  • However, this is 2014 and the things look quiet different, especially after last year`s Assembly elections which saw the BJP coming back to power with a bang. (BJP won a whopping 162 seats against 21 that fell in Congress` kit)
  • In 2013 Assembly polls, the BJP cashed in on the anti-incumbency factor against previous CM-led Ashok Gehlot government, and mostly from the pan-India Modi wave, which seemed to have a great impact on Rajasthan`s electorate.
  • CM Vasundhara Raje`s win just ahead of Lok Sabha elections augurs well for the BJP as 2013 Assembly polls were billed as a semi-final to the 2014 polls.
  • Congress had to bear the brunt of poor governance and corruption taint with even Gehlot`s relatives accused in mining scams.
  • Main candidates from Congress contesting election are Mohammed Azharuddin (Tonk), Gopal Singh Shekhawat from (Rajsamand), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer).
  • Congress has also given ticket to Leela Maderna from Osiyan. She is the wife of Mahipal Maderna (in jail for Bhanwari Devi murder case)
  • Cong candidate from Jaipur is Mahesh Joshi.
  • For Barmer, the BJP has denied ticket to veteran leader Jaswant Singh, who is now contesting as independent.
  • BJP has given ticket to Col. Sonaram Choudhary, who has defected from Conress, to field from Barmer.
  • Also the BJP is fielding Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from Jaipur Rural and Harish Chandra Meena from Dausa.
  • Opinion polls predict 20 or more seats for the BJP, while Congress may get just five or less seats.
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