Rajasthan upheld its tradition of changing governance every five years and ousted the Congress-led Ashok Gehlot Government by voting the BJP into power on Sunday.
The second winning surge for the BJP came in Rajasthan after retaining neighbouring Madhya Pradesh and winning over Chhattisgarh, where it comfortably wrested power from the faction ridden grand old party.
Till reports last filed according to the Election Commission updates, the BJP won 115 seats leaving Congress at 70 of the total of 200 Assembly seats.
The elections were conducted over 199 seats while Sriganganagar's Karanpur seat was postponed due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar.
The Bharat Adivasi Party had won one seat and was leading on two.
The BSP won one seat and led on another while the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party led on two and the RLD on one. Independent candidates were leading or winning from seven seats.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot submitted his resignation to Governor Kalraj Mishra late in the evening to pave the way for several names, including former CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia, who are currently doing the rounds. Gehlot said the Assembly poll results were 'unexpected for everyone' and added that the party humbly accepted the people's mandate.
For almost full term, Gehlot struggled with his former deputy and political bête noire Sachin Pilot who had carried a massive revolt within two years of formation of the Congress Government in the State. Despite having several welfare schemes in place, the culturally sound State was marred by the public airing of dirty laundry involving Congress leaders. This situation worked in favour of the BJP, as the saffron party, right from day one, kept the pressure on Gehlot.
Gehlot said all the schemes introduced by the Congress Government in the past five years, including the old pension scheme and the Chiranjeevi health insurance scheme, should be taken forward by the next Government.
In the current Assembly, the ruling Congress has 107 MLAs, BJP 70 and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLPT) three.
Also, the CPI(M) and Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) have two seats each and RLD one. There are 13 independents in the outgoing Assembly and two seats (Udaipur and Karanpur) are vacant.
Raje said people have rejected the "misgovernance” by the Congress and accepted her party's 'suraaj' (good governance). The former CM, who won the Jhalrapatan Assembly constituency by a margin of 53,193 votes, said the imminent victory also gave a chance to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to serve the people after the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
Celebrations broke out at the BJP's national as well as State headquarters as the party crossed the majority-mark. Groups of women workers raised slogans hailing Modi.
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat took a dig at Gehlot, saying his “magic” was over. “The 'magic' has ended and Rajasthan has come out of the spell of the magician. People have voted for the honour of women and for the welfare of the poor,” he said. Gehlot's father performed magic shows, and the CM has said in the past that he assisted in some.
Four of seven BJP MPs who fought the Rajasthan Assembly elections won their respective seats while three others lost the polls. BJP's Lok Sabha MPs Diya Kumari (Vidhyadhar Nagar), Rajyavardhan Rathore (Jhotwara), and Baba Balak Nath (Tijara), and Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena (Sawai Madhopur) were declared winners. Nagaur MP and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) convener Hanuman Beniwal was also leading from Khinswar Assembly seat.
The three BJP MPs who lost the Assembly polls included Narendra Kumar (Mandawa seat), Bhagirath Choudhary (Kishangarh) and Devji Patel (Sanchore). Devji Patel was defeated by BJP rebel Jiva Ram Chaudhary who contested as an independent candidate. Congress candidate and minister Sukhram Vishnoi secured second position on Sanchore seat.
While Narendra Kumar was defeated by Congress candidate Rita Chaudhary by a margin of 18,717, Bhagirath Choudhary secured third position in Kishangarh constituency where Congress candidate Vikash Choudhary won.
