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The largest state in the country in terms of area, Rajasthan, is prepping up for Assembly elections to be held on November 25. The 5.2 crore voters of the state will decide the fate of the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP this poll season.
Rajasthan has a 200-member Assembly, out of which 34 are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 25 for Scheduled Tribe (STs). The state also elects 25 members for the Lok Sabha.
As per pollsters, both Congress and BJP are considered neck-and-neck in the race for the throne of Rajasthan. However, in this article, we'll take a slight detour and discuss about the closest fought seats in Rajasthan last Assembly elections in 2018.
1. Asind
BJP's Jabbar Singh Sankhala won from Asind seat by a whisker with a wining margin of just 154 votes. Speaking in percentage, this victory margin is equivalent to a mere 0.1 per cent. Sankhala's challenger was Manish Mewara from Congress.
2. Marwar Junction
Another nail-biting finish was witnessed in the Marwar Junction constituency where Independent candidate Khushveer Singh won the seat by a tiny margin of just 251 votes. BJP's Kesaram Choudhary was his rival here.
3. Pilibanga
The Pilibanga seat (SC) saw BJP's Dharmendra Kumar defeating Congress' Vinod Kumar by a miniscule margin of just 278 votes.
4. Bundi
Ashok Dogra of BJP defeated Harimohan Sharma of Congress by just 713 votes from Bundi seat.
5. Fatehpur
Fatehpur seat was claimed by congress' Hakam Ali Khan, who defeated BJP's Sunita Kumari by 860 votes.
As a habitual swing state, this time too, Rajasthan will be a tough nut to crack for both Congress and BJP juggernauts. Hence, it will be safe to assume that the upcoming poll season won't be much different for the state.
Narrow wins have often proven to be decisive turning points in Rajasthan, amplifying the impact of vote shares and shift in the seats.
(with data and inputs from ECI and IndiaVotes)