As another assembly poll comes knocking, the battlefield in tribal-dominated Banswara district is wide open without any major, contentious issues, say political observers. The impact of Bharat Tribal Party (BTP), especially after its split that led to the formation of Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP), looks uncertain in the five seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (ST).
In the 2018 election, BJP gave the ticket to Hakru Maida in Banswara assembly constituency, sidelining the party’s sitting MLA at the time, Dhan Sigh Rawat, who contested as an independent candidate. This led to Arjun Singh Bamaniya of Congress winning the seat with a 43% vote share while the combined vote shares of Maida (34%) and Rawat (16%) stood at 50%. Bamaniya has been given a Congress ticket again for the upcoming election.
“If BJP can field a consensus candidate this time, they have a fair chance of winning the Banswara seat,” said a political observer in the district.
While the poll fever is yet to grip this backward region, jostling for tickets and making efforts to take the communities into confidence are becoming intense by the day. In Bagidora, sitting Congress MLA and minister Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya was the front runner, given his stature and work in the district. The party has renominated him from the seat for the November 25 polls. He is pitted against BJP’s Krishna Katara.
As expected, BJP has fielded its sitting MLA of Garhi, Kailash Chandra Meena, for the seat. He has the support of former CM Vasundhara Raje, who often visits the Tripura Sundari temple and replenishes her political influence in the area.
Like Meena in Garhi, the sitting BJP MLA of Ghatol, Harendra Ninama, too, was also seen to have an upper hand in the constituency, but the saffron party has fielded former Banswara MP Manshankar Ninama in Ghatol. Congress has nominated Nanalal Ninama for this seat. BAP can make a small impact in this constituency, said observers.
The Kushalgarh seat is set for a battle between incumbent independent MLA Ramila Khadia, who is contesting on a Congress ticket, and BJP’s Bhima Bhai Damor, who had won the seat in 2013. Political watchers said the two candidates are evenly matched here.
While BTP has announced candidates for all the five constituencies in Banswara district, BAP will announce its candidates for these seats shortly, said sources.
