Electoral seesaw in Barmer district set to see another test of voters’ judgment | Jaipur News
Barmer district has seven assembly seats; it had six before delimitation in 2008.In the 1998 elections, Congress secured five seats, and BJP won one. The tables turned in 2003 as Congress won just one seat while BJP bagged four, and one seat went to an independent candidate.
Since the 2008 polls, one party manages to secure six of the seven assembly seats, leaving only one for the rival party in one election, and the subsequent election sees a reversal. This pattern suggests that Barmer’s peoplehold their MLAs accountable and vote them out when they fail to live up to their expectations.
In 2013, only Mevaram Jain of Congress managed to retain his seat in Barmer district while the rest six went to BJP. Even six-term MLA Hemaram Choudhary lost in Gudamalani. Jain has won in three consecutive assembly polls and hopes to win in the upcoming elections.
Ameen Khan, the 84-year-old sitting Congress MLA of Sheo, is vying for a ticket again. He has urged Congress to nominate his son, if not him. Congress district president Fateh Khan is also seeking the ticket from Sheo. Ravindra Singh Bhati, a former president of Jodhpur’s JNV University Student Union, has a strong voter base among Muslims and Rajputs. Sources said BJP is likely to field Bhati from Sheo.
In Siwana, BJP and independent candidates have prevented Congress from winning since 2003. In Pachpadra, Congress MLA Madan Prajapat may seek to take credit for the creation of the new district of Balotra and the refinery under construction at Pachpadra. In Gudamalani, after sitting MLA and minister Hemaram Choudhary’s unwillingness to contest the poll, Congress is yet to field a candidate. In Chohtan, the need to bring the water of the Narmada is the main electoral issue.
