Vasundhara beaten by Cong, and BJP

Wresting Rajasthan from the BJP and overcoming a fierce rebellion from within the party ranks, the Congress came within a stone’s throw of attaining a majority in the Rajasthan Assembly after counting.

Wresting Rajasthan from the BJP and overcoming a fierce rebellion from within the party ranks, the Congress came within a stone’s throw of attaining a majority in the Rajasthan Assembly after counting on Monday. The final scorecard for the state’s 200 constituencies depicted 96 seats for the Congress, 78 for the BJP, seven for the BSP, and 19 for Independents, including three from the CPI(M).

Though technically the final results produced a hung Assembly, the Congress emerged as the single largest majority with 96 seats, just three short of the magical 101 needed to form a government. However, the upper echelons of the state Congress had, in fact, brought to its side more than six Independents even before the results were announced. “We are engaged in talks with like-minded Independent candidates and are confident we will form the government,” Congress MP Sachin Pilot maintained.

The results this time are a reversal of sorts of the 2003 Assembly elections. Then, the BJP had routed the Congress, which had 156 seats in the Assembly, and reduced them to a feeble 53.

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However, in 2008, the BJP, which had 123 seats, managed 78 even as it battled an anti-incumbency wave and party infighting. Accepting defeat, chief minister Vasundhara Raje submitted her resignation to the Rajasthan Governor S K Singh on Monday evening.

“The BJP government worked hard for the development of the state. However, now that the results are out, I am going to submit my resignation,” Raje said.

Following the Mumbai attack on November 26 and with more than a week of campaigning time, terror and the Congress’s “soft” stance on it dominated the BJP’s rhetoric, but it seemed to have done little for the saffron party.

Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot emphatically stated, “The people of Rajasthan have voted against the terror of Vasundhara Raje’s rule and brought the Congress back to power. The BJP brought about their downfall because of corruption, uncontrolled police action and little development during their five-year rule.”

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After counting ended, the state map showed the Congress’s trail of victory across Rajasthan, barring a few areas in the eastern and central parts of the state. Here, the BSP and Independents working with rebel BJP candidate and veteran Meena community leader Kirori Lal Meena and his wife walked away with victories in Todabhim and Mahuwa.

Senior BJP and Congress leaders admitted to underestimating Meena and the BSP, which managed to win close to 15 out of 32 constituencies in the Gurjjar-dominated eastern Rajasthan. In a subtle message to the Congress, Meena even claimed he had six MLAs with him.

Independents under rebel Gurjjar leader Prahalad Gunjal, who was expelled from the BJP for his involvement in the 2007 Gurjjar agitation won from Kotputli and Bassi constituencies in Jaipur district. However, Gunjal himself lost to Prabhulal Saini from Hindoi constituency.

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