Days after his induction, BJP minister loses election in Rajasthan

The election for the Karanpur seat could not be held along with the other Assembly seats on November 25 last year due to the death of MLA Gurmeet Singh Kooner, who was the Congress candidate from there.

On Monday, his son Rupinder Singh Kooner, who was fielded by the Congress for the January 5 election, emerged as the winner, defeating Surenderpal Singh by a margin of 11,283 votes.

With this win, the Congress’s tally in the Assembly has gone up to 70 against the BJP’s 115 seats.

In a post on X, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot congratulated Kooner and dedicated the victory to the public service work of his father. He said that the people of Karanpur “have defeated the pride of the BJP”.

“The public has taught a lesson to the BJP, which flouted the code of conduct and morality by making its candidate a minister during the elections,” Gehlot said.

The Congress had earlier lodged a protest with the Election Commission over the BJP move, accusing it of trying to influence the voters by making Surenderpal Singh a minister even before he became an MLA. It said that the move violated the election laws and the Model Code of Conduct.

After the BJP won the Assembly polls, Surenderpal Singh was inducted as a Minister of State (independent charge) on December 30. On January 5, the day of polling for the Karanpur seat, he was handed over four portfolios – Agricultural Marketing, Agriculture Irrigated Area Development and Water Utility, Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana Department and Department of Minority Affairs and Waqf.

Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma said Surenderpal Singh “has accepted the mandate and resigned from the minister’s post”. He said Singh will again be dedicated to the development of the Karanpur Assembly constituency.

BJP state president C P Joshi said that the party will “review the reasons for the loss”.

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, “Normally in such an election, which is held following someone’s demise, there is devotion and a sympathy wave for the deceased leader. It is because of this sympathy wave indeed that there is such a result.”

Terming the poll result as a slap on the “BJP’s dictatorship and undemocratic policy”, state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra said, “When the constitutional institutions of the country forget their responsibilities, then justice is done in the public’s court.”

Following his win, Kooner thanked the voters for electing him in adverse circumstances where “ministers and union ministers were roaming the streets”. He termed it a victory for democracy.

While he is a first-time MLA, his father Gurmeet was a three-term MLA while his chief opponent, Surenderpal Singh, was an MLA twice. Since 1998, the Karanpur seat had rotated between Gurmeet and Surenderpal – both of whom have been ministers in Congress and BJP governments, respectively.