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Today marks the culmination of an intense election season with voting in Telangana, one of the five states that went to polls this month. Mizoram and Chhattisgarh were the first states to go to polls in the last round of assembly elections before the all-important Lok Sabha elections next year. The first phase of the two-phase Chhattisgarh assembly elections coincided with the Mizoram assembly elections on November 7 and the second phase with the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections on November 17. Rajasthan assembly elections were held in a single phase on November 25.
The high-pitch poll campaign saw Congress focusing mainly on the works and performance of the Ashok Gehlot government and also banked on the promise of seven guarantees. The BJP, on the other hand, attacked the Congress on issues such as crime against women, appeasement, corruption and paper leaks.
With the culmination of the 2023 assembly elections in five states today, all eyes will be on the exit poll results that claim to project the voter sentiment and the immediate future of political parties. Among the political battlegrounds in Rajasthan assembly elections, Sardarpura, Tonk, Jhalarapatan, Nathdwara, Jhunjhunu, Jhotwara, Kota North, and Churu are among the high-profile seats that are seen as epicentres of political manoeuvring and strategic contests.
Sardarpura, a seat that has been synonymous with chief minister Ashok Gehlot's political legacy since 1998 and a Congress bastion, this time witnesses a challenge from BJP's Mahendra Singh Rathore. In Tonk, Sachin Pilot, a party rival of Gehlot, off against the BJP's Ajit Singh Mehta. Tonk, known for its closely contested battles, had Pilot securing a victory in 2018 with a formidable margin against Yoonus Khan.
Meanwhile, in Jhalarapatan, former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, a seasoned campaigner, seeks to maintain her winning streak since 2003. In Jhotwara, the electoral stage witnesses a faceoff between former Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore and Congress' Abhishek Choudhary. In 2018, Congress candidate Lalchand Katariya defeated Rathore in this seat. Another key constituency would be Nathdwara, from where the BJP has fielded Vishwaraj Singh Mewar, a descendant of Maharana Pratap Singh, against Congress veteran CP Joshi, the current speaker of the Rajasthan assembly.
As the clock ticks toward the culmination of this political saga, we eagerly await the revelation of the exit poll results, set to air after 5.30pm today. The real showdown, the counting of votes, is scheduled for December 3. Stay tuned as we unfold the unfolding drama of the 2023 Rajasthan assembly elections.
