Rajasthan assembly polls: BJP wins 61 seats, ahead in 54

Jaipur, Dec 3 (PTI) The BJP was cruising to victory in Rajasthan with its candidates winning from 61 seats and leading in 54, while the Congress won from 35 constituencies and was leading in 34, according to Election Commission trends available on Sunday for the assembly polls.

A party has to win 100 seats for a simple majority in the state. Polling in 199 of the state’s 200 seats were held on November 25.

Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje won from the Jhalrapatan seat. Among the other BJP candidates who won are Diya Kumari from Vidhyadhnagar, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from Jhotwara, Samaram from Pindwara Abu, Govind Prasad from Manohar Thana, Jaswant Singh Yadav from Behror, Mahendra Pal Meena from Jamwa Ramgarh, Anita Bhadel from Ajmer South, and Madan Dilawar from Ramganj Mandi.

The Congress candidates who secured victory include Sachin Pilot from Tonk, Shanti Dhariwal from Kota North, Tikaram Jully from Alwar Rural, and Anita Jatav from Hindaun.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Brijendra Ola, Vishvendra Singh and Mahendra Jeet Singh Malvia are among the Congress candidates who are leading.

Assembly Speaker C P Joshi of the Congress lost the election from Nathdwara to the BJP’s Vishvaraj Singh Mewar.

Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) candidates Rajkumar Roat and Thavar Chand won from Chorasi and Dhariawad constituencies, respectively. The party was also leading in another seat, according to trends available at 5 pm.

The BSP won one seat and is leading in one, while the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party was leading in two seats. Two Independent candidates won and five others were ahead.

Chief Minister Gehlot said the assembly poll results were “unexpected for everyone” and added the party humbly accepted the people’s mandate.

In a post on X, he said, “We humbly accept the mandate given by the people of Rajasthan. This is an unexpected result for everyone. This defeat shows that we were not completely successful in taking our plans, laws and innovations to the public.”

As the counting of votes progressed, senior BJP leader and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat took a jibe at Gehlot, saying people have come out of the spell of the “magician”.

“The ‘magic’ has ended and Rajasthan has come out of the spell of the magician. People have voted for the honour of women and for the welfare of the poor,” he said.

Gehlot was born into a family of magicians and assisted his father during his tours.

“People have failed the guarantees of Congress. They have voted to throw corrupt Congress out,” Shekhawat told reporters here.

He asserted that the BJP will be forming the government in the state with a huge mandate.

Polling in 199 out of 200 assembly constituencies was held on November 25.

The election in Sriganganagar’s Karanpur seat was postponed due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar.

Counting of votes polled in the November 25 assembly elections in Rajasthan got underway at 8 am amid tight security arrangements.

A total of 36 counting centres have been set up for the 199 assembly constituencies.

As many as 1,862 candidates are in the fray for 199 seats.

While 30 election districts have one counting centre, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Nagaur have two centres each. “All District Election Officers, Police Commissioners and Superintendents of Police have been instructed to strictly follow the security protocol at the counting centre,” a senior poll panel official said.

He said that three-tier security arrangements have been ensured at the counting venue and only those with authorised passes would be able to enter.

“Separate counting halls have been made for each assembly seat at the counting centre, where as per the instructions of the Commission, tables have been arranged for counting of postal ballots and EVMs,” the official said.

While most of pollsters had predicted an edge for the BJP, three exit polls in their upper limit had forecast a Congress win in the desert state.