In 5 months, BJP's fortunes take a sharp turn for the better in Rajasthan

In just five months after facing a defeat in the Assembly election in Rajasthan, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) made a stunning comeback. The party increased its vote share to 58.4 per cent in this Lok Sabha election from 39.3 per cent in the state polls, which were held in December 2018. 

It is a déjà vu for the BJP which in the 2014 general election had swept all seats in the state. For the ruling Congress in the state, it was an embarrassing result -- it did not win a single seat. Even Vaibhav Gehlot, son of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, lost the election from Jodhpur by nearly 200,000 votes. The BJP's Gajendra Singh Shekhawat defeated him.

Although, Gehlot senior remains popular, there was anger in the public regarding his promise of a farm loan waiver, which is yet to be implemented.

The Modi juggernaut was also inevitable to be stalled in the state. The BJP’s strong campaign built around military actions in Pulwama and Balakot clicked the most in Rajasthan. 

In Barmer, Kailash Chaudhury had an easy win, thanks to the dialogue around military operations. The Barmer region has important military installations like Jaisalmer Air Force station, Uttarlai Air Force station, and the Pokhran test range. Barmer has the longest continuous border with Pakistan among all constituencies.

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In Jaipur Rural, the fight was between two sports icons. The BJP re-fielded Rajyavardhan Rathore, minister of state for information and technology, and sports and youth affairs, a decorated Army officer, an Olympics silver medal winner, and three-time Commonwealth Games gold medal winner in the double-trap shooting.

The Congress candidate was Krishna Poonia, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and a two-time Asian Games bronze medal winner in the discus. She is a member of the Rajasthan Assembly from Sadulpur. Both Poonia and Rathore have been awarded the Padma Shri. 

The Congress also hoped to draw Jat votes with Poonia. But none worked in their favour. Rathore won by a margin of more than 380,000 votes.

The Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP), which was supposed to pull tribal votes in southern Rajasthan areas, had no impact whatsoever, as analysts said they all went to the BJP.