Rajasthan
Bjp: Both Cong, BJP to face competition from RLP once again in Nagaur dist | Jaipur News
Lying in the heart of Rajasthan, Nagaur district remains one of the state’s most politically charged regions. The Panchayat Raj system, a fundamental pillar of local governance in India, traces its roots to this district, which is dominated by the Jats and Muslim communities, earning it the title of the ‘Jatland of Rajasthan’.
Before 2003, Nagaur was a stronghold of Congress, and its politics revolved around the influential Mirdha family. BJP shattered Congress‘s supremacy in the region in the 2003 assembly polls and holds sway since.
In 2003, BJP made a big dent in Nagaur by winning nine of the ten assembly seats in Nagaur district while only Richpal Mirdha won a seat for Congress. Then, in the 2008 assembly polls, Congress wrested four of the ten seats while BJP triumphed in five, and one seat, Ladnun, went to an independent candidate, Harji Ram Burdak .
Both Congress and BJP faced a major hurdle in Nagaur district with the emergence of Hanuman Beniwal and his party, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), in 2013, and BJP suffered losses in the assembly polls that year. With the ‘Modi wave’ having started to sweep this region, BJP managed to win nine of the ten seats in the 2013 elections. Beniwal stopped BJP from achieving a clean sweep in the district as he won the Khinvsar seat as an independent candidate.
Beniwal had contested the 2008 election as a BJP candidate but later fell out with former CM Vasundhara Raje and was expelled from the party in 2013. He then founded RLP the same year and posed challenges for both Congress and BJP. In Nagaur district, RLP currently has two MLAs, and Beniwal represents the district in the Lok Sabha. RLP also has another MLA elected from Bhopalgarh (SC) seat in the neighbouring Jodhpur district.
“RLP candidates played an important role in BJP’s defeat in Jayal (SC) and Ladnun assembly constituencies in 2018. Congress took the top spot in Ladnun with Mukesh Bhakar securing 65,041 votes, while BJP candidate Manohar Singh got 52,094 votes. RLP’s Jagannath Burdak got 20,063 votes,” said Ashok Singh, a Congress leader in Ladnun constituency.
In Jayal constituency, reserved for SC candidates, Congress’s Manju Devi emerged victorious in 2018 while RLP’s Anil was the runner-up, and BJP’s Manju Baghmar was pushed to the third place.
The scenario in Nagaur district for the upcoming state elections will get clearer once candidates for all the ten seats are declared by the parties. Both Congress and BJP have announced their candidates for six seats so far.
Congress has renominated 50% of its sitting MLAs in the district. Its six candidates are Mukesh Bhakar from Ladnun, Ramniwas Gawriya from Parbatsar, Vijaypal Mirdha from Degana, Manju Devi Meghwal from Jayal (SC), Chetan Dudi from Deedwana, and Zakir Hussain Gesawat from Makrana.
RLP candidates so far include Beniwal, who is contesting for the Khinvsar seat; Indira Devi Bawri, the sitting MLA from Merta (SC); and Laccharam Badarda for the Parbatsar seat.
The Nagaur seat is set to witness a fierce triangular contest. Jyoti Mirdha, a member of the Mirdha family and former Congress MP who defected from the party, has been nominated by BJP for Nagaur, its traditional and safest seat. The saffron party has maintained a winning streak in this constituency for the past two decades. Congress and RLP are yet to declare their candidates for the Nagaur seat.
Before 2003, Nagaur was a stronghold of Congress, and its politics revolved around the influential Mirdha family. BJP shattered Congress‘s supremacy in the region in the 2003 assembly polls and holds sway since.
In 2003, BJP made a big dent in Nagaur by winning nine of the ten assembly seats in Nagaur district while only Richpal Mirdha won a seat for Congress. Then, in the 2008 assembly polls, Congress wrested four of the ten seats while BJP triumphed in five, and one seat, Ladnun, went to an independent candidate, Harji Ram Burdak .
Both Congress and BJP faced a major hurdle in Nagaur district with the emergence of Hanuman Beniwal and his party, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), in 2013, and BJP suffered losses in the assembly polls that year. With the ‘Modi wave’ having started to sweep this region, BJP managed to win nine of the ten seats in the 2013 elections. Beniwal stopped BJP from achieving a clean sweep in the district as he won the Khinvsar seat as an independent candidate.
Beniwal had contested the 2008 election as a BJP candidate but later fell out with former CM Vasundhara Raje and was expelled from the party in 2013. He then founded RLP the same year and posed challenges for both Congress and BJP. In Nagaur district, RLP currently has two MLAs, and Beniwal represents the district in the Lok Sabha. RLP also has another MLA elected from Bhopalgarh (SC) seat in the neighbouring Jodhpur district.
“RLP candidates played an important role in BJP’s defeat in Jayal (SC) and Ladnun assembly constituencies in 2018. Congress took the top spot in Ladnun with Mukesh Bhakar securing 65,041 votes, while BJP candidate Manohar Singh got 52,094 votes. RLP’s Jagannath Burdak got 20,063 votes,” said Ashok Singh, a Congress leader in Ladnun constituency.
In Jayal constituency, reserved for SC candidates, Congress’s Manju Devi emerged victorious in 2018 while RLP’s Anil was the runner-up, and BJP’s Manju Baghmar was pushed to the third place.
The scenario in Nagaur district for the upcoming state elections will get clearer once candidates for all the ten seats are declared by the parties. Both Congress and BJP have announced their candidates for six seats so far.
Congress has renominated 50% of its sitting MLAs in the district. Its six candidates are Mukesh Bhakar from Ladnun, Ramniwas Gawriya from Parbatsar, Vijaypal Mirdha from Degana, Manju Devi Meghwal from Jayal (SC), Chetan Dudi from Deedwana, and Zakir Hussain Gesawat from Makrana.
RLP candidates so far include Beniwal, who is contesting for the Khinvsar seat; Indira Devi Bawri, the sitting MLA from Merta (SC); and Laccharam Badarda for the Parbatsar seat.
The Nagaur seat is set to witness a fierce triangular contest. Jyoti Mirdha, a member of the Mirdha family and former Congress MP who defected from the party, has been nominated by BJP for Nagaur, its traditional and safest seat. The saffron party has maintained a winning streak in this constituency for the past two decades. Congress and RLP are yet to declare their candidates for the Nagaur seat.
