Congress back from the brink in Rajasthan, beats own expectations on back of Jat unrest, gains among SCs & STs

After being wiped out from Rajasthan in two straight Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has breached the BJP stronghold and surpassed its own expectations in the process.

Rajasthan had given all 25 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP and the NDA in 2014 and 2019, respectively. This time, Congress won eight seats and its three alliance partners were victorious in a seat each. The BJP swept up the remaining 14.

The last time Congress won a Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan was in 2009, when it won 20 seats and the party formed the second UPA government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

While the official stance of the Congress was that it would win 12-13 seats, its leaders were hopeful of winning 5-6 seats. Poll punters, too, were willing to give Congress a maximum of seven seats on its own.

Although the final figures were yet to come in, BJP vote share dipped around 9 per cent compared to 2019, with the Congress-led alliance registering gains.

The BJP was banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal, the Ram Temple construction, removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, a perception about India’s “powerful” image abroad, rallies by party heavyweights and a consolidation of its power through inductions from other parties.

The Congress, meanwhile, was relying on Jat anger against BJP, anti-incumbency and coalitions to dent BJP’s aim to win all 25 seats from the state for the third time.

Apart from the Jat-dominated Shekhawati region, the Congress performed well in the eastern Rajasthan pockets dominated by the Gujjar–Meena communities and Scheduled Castes (SC). In Shekhawati, the Congress wasted no time in fielding BJP rebel Rahul Kaswan, a Jat, from Churu. The sitting MP had been denied a ticket by the BJP.

As BJP’s seven-term former