Last Updated: March 14, 2024, 18:50 IST
In a major jolt to the Congress, the BJP swept the national polls in 2019, winning 24 of the 25 seats it contested with ally RLP in Rajasthan —- which won one seat. (Getty)
Of the 25 seats in Rajasthan, four seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, while three seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates
Rajasthan could turn out to be a massive triumph for the BJP as the News18 Mega Opinion Poll predicted that the saffron party is set to win all 25 Lok Sabha seats. The poll also shows that the opposition INDIA bloc may fail to open its account in the desert state, where one of its main constituents — the Congress — was voted out of power in the assembly election last year.
News18’s survey from February 12 to March 1 covered 21 major states of India that account for 95 per cent all Lok Sabha constituencies, making it one of the largest surveys in the country. It provides valuable insights into the political landscape of India, offering a detailed analysis of voter sentiment and preferences ahead of the upcoming general elections.
Rajasthan is often considered a bellwether state as it has alternated between the Congress and BJP, reflecting the mood of the nation.
The Lok Sabha Elections in the state of Rajasthan are typically organised in the latter half of the election period, which was also the case during the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, where the General Elections were organised in the third quarter for the state.
Rajasthan is the joint ninth largest state by the number of Lok Sabha seats, which currently stands at 25. Of the 25 seats, four seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, while three seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates.
Recap of 2019
In a major jolt to the Congress, the BJP swept the national polls, winning 24 of the 25 seats it contested with ally RLP in Rajasthan —- which also won one seat. The saffron party not only swept the polls but also increased its vote share to 58.4 per cent in 2019 from 54.9 per cent in 2014.
The Congress failed to consolidate its position despite winning the assembly elections in December 2018, contrary to the state’s decades-old trend of the ruling party getting a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha.
The Grand Old Party, however, witnessed an increase in vote share from 30.36 per cent in 2014 to 34.2 per cent in 2019, according to Election Commission data.
One of the major reasons for the debacle was the infighting in the state unit as several Congress functionaries blamed the internal tussle for delay in ticket distribution for the national polls.
In 2014, the BJP had witnessed a clean sweep by winning all the 25 seats. The Congress had managed to win two Lok Sabha seats of Ajmer and Alwar in bypolls held in 2018, but it failed to hold them in 2019.
Plan for 2024
Addressing a rally in Udaipur in February this year, Home Minister Amit Shah made the crowd repeat that BJP would cross the 400-mark in the Lok Sabha elections under the Modi Sarkar.
Criticising the Congress on its dynastic policy and confused state, Shah talked about how Modi has uplifted 25 crore people out of poverty in the last 10 years, giving them houses, toilets, gas cylinders at Rs 450, free vegetables, free medicines up to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 8,000 to farmers in Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, in more trouble for the Congress, several Rajasthan leaders, including former ministers Rajendra Yadav and Lal Chand Kataria, joined the BJP, days before the expected announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.
Former Congress MLAs Ricchpal Mirdha, his son Vijaypal Mirdha and Khiladi Bairwa; former independent MLA Alok Beniwal, former state chief of Congress Seva Dal Suresh Chaudhary, Rampal Sharma and Riju Jhunjhunwala among other leaders also joined the state’s ruling party.