Congress wins all 3 bypolls in Rajasthan

NEW DELHI: Congress has won all three bypolls in Rajasthan resoundingly, snatching the Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha seats and the Mandalgarh assembly seat from the BJP by huge margins and putting the Vasundhara Raje government in a spot with assembly elections slated for the year-end.

Congress, which had not won even a single Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan in 2014, was enthused by the results. Pradesh Congress president Sachin Pilot described it as a “gift to Rahul Gandhi post him becoming the Congress national president”. Former CM Ashok Gehlot told ET that the atmosphere created by a “united front put up by Congress leaders and workers” paved the way for the big wins and Raje government’s defeat in December was certain. “The scale of the victory speaks for itself. We emphatically won almost every assembly segment in Ajmer and Alwar. The kind of personal stake the CM had put during the election campaign shows what kind of defeat awaits the BJP in December,” Pilot told ET. “We need to work harder and stand committed to the development of Rajasthan,” tweeted Raje. State BJP chief Ashok Parnami, however, advised Congress “not be so happy” over the results and promised introspection.

Congress won the Alwar seat by over 1.9 lakh votes, Ajmer by over 80,000 votes and Mandalgarh by nearly 13,000 votes. BJP had won Ajmer by 1.72 lakh and Alwar by nearly 2.84 lakh in 2014. Gehlot and Pilot can take credit for the win after putting up a united front. Farmers’ discontent and Rajput community’s anger over the nation-wide release of ‘Padmaavat’ may have been factors. Rajput groups had, in fact, openly said they would work for BJP’s defeat. There were celebrations at Rajput Sabha Bhawan in Jaipur on Thursday after the results.


The win is expected to renew the demand in Congress for early announcement of CM candidate. Pilot has been PCC chief for four years and Gehlot made a comeback after the party put up a good fight in Gujarat under his guidance.