(From Left) File images of I.N.D.I.A. alliance candidate Hanuman Beniwal; Paralympian Devendra Jhajhariya; Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav
Credit: PTI Images
Jaipur: Twelve constituencies in Rajasthan will go to polls on Friday, April 19, in the first phase with BJP and Congress tied in a straight fight in 10 of these seats while two of these seats -- Nagaur and Sikar -- would see a contest between BJP and an I.N.D.I.A. bloc candidate.
The constituencies, which goes to polls in the first phase include Jaipur, Jaipur (Rural), Alwar, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Dholpur-Karauli, Nagaur, Bikaner (SC), Bharatpur (SC), Sriganganagar-Hanumangarh.
At least 114 candidates are in the fray on these 12 seats.
Jaipur (Rural) will see the highest number of candidates at 15 while Dholpur-Karauli seat will see the lowest number of contestants at 4.
In at least eight of these 12 seats, candidates fighting against each other are from the same caste, namely Bikaner, Dholpur-Karauli, Jhunjhunu, Alwar, Churu, Nagaur, Dausa and Sikar.
In Nagaur, I.N.D.I.A. alliance candidate Hanuman Beniwal from Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) would take on BJP’s Jyoti Mirdha. In Sikar, I.N.D.I.A. bloc candidate Amraram, CPI(M) would lock horns with BJP’s Sumedhanand Saraswati.
Out of these 12 seats, Churu, Nagaur and Alwar are crucial for the ruling BJP.
In Churu, it is a prestige battle for both BJP and Congress. The Congress has fielded sitting MP and BJP turncoat Rahul Kaswan after he was denied a ticket by the saffron camp. The BJP has fielded Paralympian Devendra Jhajhariya, who is said to have been Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal choice at the recommendation of BJP strongman Rajendra Rathore.
However, people in the region say it is a straight fight between Rathore and Kaswan as Rathore has often alleged that Kaswan was responsible for his defeat in 2023 December state assembly elections from Taranagar seat.
Kaswan, whose father also held the seat for four times, has often said that he feels betrayed by the BJP and has asked its senior leaders to tell him his fault as he has worked diligently in the last 10 years.
The Nagaur seat is also one of most watched contest in the state as Jat influential leader Hanuman Beniwal takes on his old rival from the illustrious Mirdha family, Jyoti Mirdha on the Jat-dominated turf.
A war of words had commenced between the two leaders over their educational degrees. Incidentally Beniwal had fought Mirdha in the 2019 elections as RLP candidate with BJP support against Congress’s Mirdha. She changed over to BJP just before the Assembly elections and lost the Nagaur Assembly seat to her uncle Harendra Mirdha. Yet she has been banked upon by the BJP for her influential Jat family legacy.
In Alwar, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, who is very close to Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah is up against Congress’s Lalit Yadav, who recently won his Assembly constituency Mundawar. Bhupinder Yadav has been a Rajya Sabha member and is largely an organisational man. This would be his Lok Sabha debut and much is at stake for the BJP here.
In Bikaner (SC) seat, another Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, 70, takes on Govind Ram Meghwal. Arjun Ram Meghwal would be contesting for the straight fourth time and is said to be in a good position electorally.
Jaipur constituency, which is known as Brahmin seat, has also been a BJP stronghold for years and is likely to remain so. With a woman and a Brahmin candidate Manju Sharma put up by BJP, it is likely that she would win over Congress’s Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, a Rajput and someone who has been forced into the fight.