Rajasthan: INDIA bloc sweeps all four seats in Jat-dominated Shekhawati belt

Jaipur: The INDIA bloc bagged all four seats in Rajasthan's Shekhawati region where farmers' issues and the Agnipath scheme dominated the electoral discourse.

The opposition bloc got a morale booster in Rajasthan after winning 11 seats in the state, which had seen the BJP-led NDA winning all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the last two general elections.

Having lost the assembly polls in December last year, the good performance in the Lok Sabha polls has enthused the Congress and its allies.

The BJP on Tuesday won 14 seats while the Congress got eight. At the same time, INDIA bloc partners CPI(M), Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) won one seat each.

The Congress had forged alliances with the CPI (M) in Sikar and RLP in Nagaur and supported Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) in Banswara-Dungarpur, while the BJP contested all 25 seats independently.

In the Shekhawati region comprising Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar and Nagaur districts, all the four seats have gone to INDIA bloc.

While the Congress emerged victorious in Churu and Jhunjhunu, INDIA bloc partners CPI(M) won Sikar and RLP won Nagaur seat.

Shekhawati is considered a land of warriors as it sends a large number of youths to the armed forces but youths aspiring to join the Army were disappointed with the central government due to the Agnipath scheme.

Besides the Agnipath scheme, the Congress had also focused on the issues facing the farmers in this belt.

In northern Rajasthan, which is also dominated by farmers, the Congress has won Ganganagar while the BJP won Bikaner seat. Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwa won the Bikaner seat for the fourth time with a margin of 55,711 votes. His winning margin in 2019 LS elections was 2,64,081.

In eastern Rajasthan, the Congress secured seats in Dausa, Dholpur-Karauli, Bharatpur and Tonk-Sawaimadhopur while the BJP could secure only Alwar seat in this region.

In this region, Congress candidate and MLA Murari Meena won Dausa seat with an impressive margin of 2,37,340 votes.

The Congress clinched Bharatpur seat with a margin of 51,983 votes.

Bharatpur, being the hometown of chief minister Bhajanlal Sharma, is a significant win for the Congress.

Former deputy CM Sachin Pilot's camp has given credit to Pilot for the victory in eastern Rajasthan. Pilot, who is from the Gurjar community, has influence in eastern Rajasthan where Gurjar votes are in significant numbers.

Murari Meena (Dausa) and Harish Chandra Meena (Tonk-Sawaimadhopur) are considered close to Pilot.

In western Rajasthan, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot lost the Jalore-Sirohi seat by a margin of 2,01,543 votes. Gehlot had used all his influence and put all weight behind his son during the campaign but Vaibhav Gehlot lost the Lok Sabha elections like the previous elections.

However, the Congress won Barmer seat located along the Indo-Pak border in eastern Rajasthan.

The BJP also retained Jodhpur seat where union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat won.

The BJP maintained its stronghold in Hadauti region, where the party candidates Om Birla and Dushyant Singh won Kota-Bundi and Jhalawar-Baran seats respectively.

While the winning margin of Birla reduced from 2,79,677 in 2019 to 41,974 in 2024, Dushyant Singh, son of former CM Vasundhara Raje, won with a margin of 3,70,989 votes this time.

In 2019, Singh's winning margin was 4,53,928 votes. He has won this seat for the fifth time.

In Mewar and Wagad region in southern Rajasthan comprising Udaipur, Banswara-Dungarpur, Chittorgarh and Rajsamand seats, BJP retained Chittorgarh, Udaipur and Rajsamand seat while the Congress supported Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) won the Banswara-Dungarpur seat.

BJP state president CP Joshi has won Chittorgarh seat for third time and new face Mahima Kumari Singh, who is the member of erstwhile royal family of Mewar (Udaipur) won Rajsamand seat, whereas BAP candidate Rajkumar Roat won tribal dominated Banswara-Dungarpur seat.

Roat is also a BAP MLA, who defeated the BJP's Mahendrajeet Singh Malvia.

Malvia, a former Congress minister, had resigned as MLA from Bagidora (Banswara district) and joined the BJP in February and was given ticket by the party but faced defeat.

The BAP has also won assembly bypolls on Bagidora seat. The defeat on Banswara Lok Sabha seat and Bagidora assembly seat is a setback for BJP in this tribal area.