Jaipur: In the second phase of the Lok Sabha election, the country's largest state, Rajasthan, will wrap up its voting with 13 out of 25 seats, on Friday. Of the 152 candidates in the fray, Congress stalwart and ex-Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav and BJP's Lumbaram Chaudhary, who is not known much in politics.
The Lower House Speaker Om Birla, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Chaudhary, and the son of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot's son, Vaibhav Gehlot, are in the fray.
Vaibhav Gehlot, who has been contesting from the Jalore-Sirohi, is pulling out all stops to win the seat. He was defeated from the Jodhpur seat last time. On its polling day, Vaibhav seemed hopeful for the result as he quoted, "I am 100% confident that people are bringing a change in Jalore this time."
His rival BJP's Lumbaram Chaudhary is a low profile candidate, who is a grassroots worker. He began his political journey from panchayat level and has the image of an ordinary BJP worker.
Besides, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has twice been elected as MP from the Jodhpur constituency on a BJP ticket. On the other hand, Congress has fielded Karan Singh Uchirada as its candidate this time from the same constituency. Amid the 10-year anti-incumbency factor, Karan Singh left no stone unturned to win voters' hearts. Last time, Shekhawat defeated Vaibhav Gehlot by 2.74 lakh votes from the same constituency.
The fight for Kota-Bundi seat also gets intense as Om Birla is contesting from there on a BJP ticket. On the other hand, the grand old party fielded Prahlad Gunjal, who shares a close bond with Birla, who had the record of winning the last election by 2.79 lakh votes from the same constituency.
Barmer is another hotspot in the northern state, where the contest is triangular. Union Agriculture Minister Kailash Chaudhary takes on Umedaram Beniwal, who left the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and joined Congress, and Independent candidate Ravindra Singh Bhati, an MLA from Shiv. The entry of three popular candidates made the contest captivating. Remarkably, Kailash had won from here last time by 3.23 lakh votes.
Apart from the general elections, a by-election is also scheduled for the Bagidora assembly seat in Banswara, which became vacant after Congress MLA Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya left the party and joined the BJP.
However, both Congress and BJP were engaged in spirited campaigns. While the BJP conducted rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the Congress planned to continue door-to-door campaigns. Besides, senior party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also held rallies for candidates.
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