New Delhi: The people of Rajasthan are voting today to elect their representatives for 199 out of 200 seats in the state assembly. The election is a high-stakes contest between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP, with both parties making a slew of promises and bringing in their star campaigners to woo the voters. The polling started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, with adequate security arrangements in place to ensure a peaceful and fair voting process. The only seat where the election has been postponed is Karanpur, where the Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar passed away recently.
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The Congress, led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, is hoping to retain power and break the three-decade-old trend of alternating governments in the state. The party has highlighted its achievements in the fields of agriculture, health, education and social welfare, and has promised to conduct a caste-based census, recruit more staff at the panchayat level and enact a law to guarantee minimum support price for farmers.
The BJP, on the other hand, is banking on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his development agenda to oust the Gehlot government. The party has accused the Congress of indulging in dynastic politics, corruption, misgovernance and failing to protect the interests of women, students and farmers. The BJP has also pledged to implement various central schemes such as PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, Laho Incentive Scheme, Direct Benefit Transfer and Bhamashah Health Infrastructure Mission in the state.
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The election is also a test of the political clout of former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot, who had rebelled against Gehlot last year but later reconciled with the party leadership. Pilot is contesting from Tonk constituency and has been campaigning extensively across the state. He has also faced sharp attacks from Modi, who accused him of being punished by the Congress for his father’s revolt against the high command in 1996. Pilot, however, dismissed Modi’s remarks and asked him to focus on the issues of the state.
Apart from Pilot and Gehlot, some of the other prominent candidates in the fray include former CM Vasundhara Raje, Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, Congress national spokesperson Gourav Vallabh, Vishwaraj Singh Mewar, Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi, and Rajasthan LoP Rajendra Rathore. Many rebel candidates from both the Congress and the BJP are also in the contest, posing a challenge to the official nominees of their respective parties.
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The role of smaller parties and independents may also prove to be crucial in the outcome of the election. The BSP, the AAP, the RLP, the BAP, the CPI-M, the JJP and the ASP are some of the parties that are trying to make a dent in the vote share of the two major parties.
The election campaign in Rajasthan witnessed a fierce battle of words and rallies between the Congress and the BJP, with both parties bringing in their top leaders to address the voters. While the BJP had Modi, Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Rajnath Singh and Yogi Adityanath as its star campaigners, the Congress relied on Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and several state leaders to counter them.
The counting of votes will take place on December 3, when the fate of the candidates and the parties will be decided by the 5,26,90,146 voters of the state. Among them, 1,70,99,334 are young voters in the 18-30 age group, including 22,61,008 new voters in the 18-19 age group. Over 3 lakh voters have already cast their votes through postal ballots before the polling day.
