Rajasthan bypolls: Confident of winning all 7 seats, says state BJP chief

Rajasthan BJP president Madan Rathore on Tuesday exuded confidence in the saffron party’s would win all seven assembly seats in the state that went to bypolls last week.

Ahead of the vote count on November 23, Rathore said the party’s candidates, chosen after discussions with local leadership, had received immense support from the people.

“Looking at the enthusiasm among party workers and the public, it seems that the party has received strong backing in the bypolls. After the polling, we reviewed the situation, and it appears that we will win all seven seats,” Rathore told PTI.

He acknowledged that there were one or two “weak” seats where securing a foothold might be challenging, but emphasised that the party remained united, while the opposition was divided. “We are hopeful of winning all the seats,” he added.

The seven seats — Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chorasi, Salumber, and Ramgarh — went to bypolls on November 13.

Of them, one seat was held by the BJP, four by the Congress and one each by the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP).

Targetting the Congress, Rathore accused the party of engaging in divisive politics but said the people had now realised that Congress only misleads, while the BJP delivers on its promises.

Referring to the differences between Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, he said both were fighting for supremacy, which had weakened the party.

The bypolls in Ramgarh and Salumber were necessitated by the deaths of their respective MLAs Zubair Khan, a Congress leader, and Amritlal Meena of BJP. The remaining five seats became vacant after their MLAs were elected to Parliament in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.