New Delhi: The 200 Assembly seats in Rajasthan will go to polls in a single phase on November 23, the Election Commission announced today. The results of the polls will be declared on December 3, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told the media today while announcing the polling dates for five states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram.
The election in Rajasthan is crucial for the ruling Congress, as it comes months ahead of the 2024 general election. The Congress has tied up with other Opposition forces under the INDIA bloc that aims to put up a formidable fight against the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. The Assembly polls in five states are, therefore, a big test for the Opposition parties and will put their coordination under the scanner.
In the 2018 election, the Congress had won 100 seats, one short of the halfway mark. The BJP had suffered heavy losses compared to its 2013 show, its seat tally dropping from 163 to 73.
Ashok Gehlot formed the government in the state with the support of Independent and BSP MLAs. The next year, six BSP MLAs shifted to the Congress, cementing its majority in the Assembly.
The Ashok Gehlot government faced a tough challenge in 2020 when then Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief Sachin Pilot led a rebellion which threatened to topple the government. Swift intervention by the Congress high command saved the day. While the Congress has put up a united front, infighting and power tussle within the ranks continues to be a key challenge as the party gears up for polls.
Infighting is a key challenge for the BJP too, with rivals camps of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat jostling with each other for prominence.
This is the first time in about two decades that the BJP is going into the polls in Rajasthan without projecting Ms Raje as the Chief Minister face.
While the Vasundhara Raje camp had been demanding that she be announced as the party's face for the election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that the BJP's poll face will be its lotus symbol put matters at rest.
In the countdown to the polls, the BJP has targeted the Ashok Gehlot government over the law and order situation in Rajasthan, flagging in particular the crimes against women. The ruling Congress has hit back, questioning the BJP's silence on such crimes in the states it rules.