17 of 25 ministers in Cong govt lose Rajasthan assembly elections

Shanti Dhariwal won the Kota North seat with a narrow margin of 2,486 votes.

Seventeen of the 25 ministers in the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan, including Govind Ram Meghwal, who also led the party’s campaign committee, lost in the assembly elections. The BJP returned to power in Rajasthan on Sunday, winning 115 seats out of the 199 where assembly elections were held last week.

The Congress, which was hoping to buck the trend of the incumbent being voted out in the state every five years, bagged 68 seats. The final result of only one seat was awaited and the Congress was leading by a narrow margin there. Govind Meghwal was defeated by BJP’s Vishwanath Meghwal in Khajuwala with a margin of 17,374 votes. Other Congress ministers who lost the elections included Ramesh Chand Meena (Sapotra), Shale Mohammad (Pokaran), Bhanwar Singh Bhati (Kolayat), Shakuntala Rawat (Bansur), Vishvendra Singh (Deeg Kumher) and Udailal Anjana (Nimbahera).

Their losing margins were 43,834 votes, 35,427 votes, 32,933 votes, 7,420 votes, 7,895 votes and 3,845 votes, respectively. Pratap Singh Khachariyawas (Civil Lines) lost with a margin of 28,329 votes and BD Kalla (Bikaner West) with a margin of 20,194 votes. Zahida Khan (Kaman) lost by 13,906 votes to her nearest rival and was placed third. Ministers Bhajan Lal Jatav (Weir), Mamta Bhupesh (Sikrai), Parsadi Lal Meena (Lalsot), Sukhram Vishnoi (Sanchore), Ramlal Jat (Mandal), Pramod Jain Bhaya (Anta) and Rajendra Yadabv (Kotputli) also lost in the elections.

Five of Gehlot’s advisors — Sanyam Lodha (Sirohi), Rajkumar Sharma (Nawalgarh), Babu Lal Nagar (Dudu), Danish Abrar (Swaimadhopur) and former chief secretary Niranjan Arya (Sojat) — also lost the fray. Gehlot won the Sardarpura seat with a margin of 26,396 votes by defeating BJP’s Mahendra Rathore. He had won the 2018-assembly elections with a margin of 45,597 votes. Minister Ashok Chandna won the Hindoli seat with a margin of 45,004 votes.

The winning margin of Chandna was 30,541 in 2018. Shanti Dhariwal won the Kota North seat with a narrow margin of 2,486 votes. Brajendra Ola (Jhunjhunu), Murari Lal Meena (Dausa), Arjun Singh Bamaniya (Banswara), Tikaram Jully (Alwar Rural) and Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya (Bagidora) also won. RLD’s Subhash Garg retained Bharatpur.