Rajasthan bypolls results ring warning bells for BJP

With the BJP losing its crucial Mandava seat to the Congress by a massive margin of 33,704 votes, the Rajasthan bypoll results are ringing warning bells for the party in wake of civic polls approaching next month in the desert state.

The massive defeat in Mandava exposes a rift in the saffron party which all its leaders overlooked during election campaigning.

BJP's Sushila Seegda, defeated by Congress' Rita Choudhary in Mandava, was earlier a Congress worker who was inducted into BJP a few days before the election. She was given a party ticket the day she was inducted into the party which left many party workers disappointed.

The disastrous result now definitely raises questions on why Sushila was given a ticket at a time when there were other workers who were awaiting their turn to serve the party.

Secondly, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje distanced herself from campaigning and party matters and so did her loyalists who refused to be seen on the ground which seems to have had an effect on the party's performance.

Thirdly, the party did not field any candidate from Khinvsar and instead formed an alliance with RLP where Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal's brother Narayan Beniwal was made the official candidate.

Beniwal's differences with Raje are well-known across the state and are one of the reasons he left the BJP and floated his own party, RLP, a few months before the Assembly election in 2018.

Now, with the RLP's victory, BJP again failed to get any mileage as the entire credit for the victory has gone to Hanuman Beniwal who has been a three-time MLA from this seat.

Meanwhile, Congress managed to give a tough fight to Beniwal on this seat and reduced the winning margin to just over 4,000 votes which again is a matter of concern for BJP as its recently elected state president Satish Poonia is a Jat leader and Khinvsar is a Jat-dominated seat.

With two strong Jat leaders representing the alliance, namely Beniwal and Poonia, a better show was expected from this seat, however, Congress marked a dent on this seat too.

Hence, it's clear that BJP needs to make a fresh strategy for the forthcoming civic elections.

Meanwhile, Poonia said, "We worked hard in these elections and we shall work harder in the forthcoming elections. Mandava, since independence, has been the Congress' bastion. The year 2018 was an exception when Narendra Kumar Khichar won the Assembly election from this seat. Our party workers wanted us to field his son from the seat, however, it was against the party policy as it would have promoted family legacy which the BJP does not favour. Our high command took a strong stand to say no for this decision and asked us to prepare for the fight. We made all efforts and worked hard, however, now more hard work is required and we shall do that."

Poonia also had a message for congress.

He said, "Congress workers should not have a wrong notion that results went in favour of their party. The local issues stand where they were. Khinvsar was the prestige seat for Congress where it lost its elections."

Both Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot had claimed that the party will win both seats.

However, responding to the claim, Hanuman Beniwal had announced that if his brother Narayan Beniwal lost the election, he himself would resign as Nagaur MP. However, if he won, then Gehot should resign.IANS