Barmer: As the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election 2024 draws to a close, Congress candidate Ummeda Ram Beniwal has won the Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha seat of Rajasthan by over 1.18 votes.
According to the ECI's latest data, Beniwal secured 704676 votes while his nearest rival independent candidate Ravindra Singh Bhati secured 586500 votes. BJP candidate Kailash Choudhary was a distant 3rd with 286733 votes.
Reacting to his win in the election, Beniwal took to X saying "Democracy has won due to the immense love and blessings received from the loving voters of Marudhara. For this, I heartily congratulate the God-like people of the entire Barmer-Jaisalmer-Balotra parliamentary constituency. As your people's representative, I have dedicated my all for the development of Thar. I am grateful and thankful to all of you from the bottom of my heart. This victory is yours. I dedicate this victory to all of you. I hope that our collective efforts will help in taking the region forward on the path of development. This victory is yours. I dedicate this victory to all of you. I hope that our collective efforts will help in taking the region forward on the path of development".
Beniwal also demanded a recount for the Jaipur Rural seat where BJP's Rao Rajendra Singh is leading against Congress candidate Anil Chopra.
"The way the administration has worked under government pressure in the counting of votes in Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha constituency raises many questions and the counting process is under suspicion. In a very close case, the result is in favour of the Congress candidate but it is unfortunate that some kind of manipulation has been done under political pressure. I demand that re-counting of votes be done for this seat with transparency," Beniwal wrote in a post on X.
Barmer-Jaisalmer (Incumbent MP: Kailash Choudhary - BJP)
Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha seat comprises eight assembly segments--Jaisalmer, Barmer, Sheo, Baytoo, Pachpadra, Siwana, Gudhamalani, and Chohtan. Barmer-Jaisalmer is a Lok Sabha seat to watch out for in Rajasthan given the tight contest expected between sitting MP Kailash Choudhary and party rebel and Independent candidate Ravindra Singh Bhati.
While the BJP is eyeing a hat trick on the seat, its sitting MP faces a tough fight from its rebel leader Bhati, who jumped into the fray after being denied the ticket by the saffron party. Independent MLA Ravindra Bhati, a first-time MLA and youth leader, has made the contest interesting by declaring to contest elections.
Bhati, a BJP rebel popular among the locals, had contested the 2023 assembly elections from the seat of Barmer as an independent candidate and won the seat. Bhati has been vocal about students' rights, which made him popular among the voters. He has been a crowd-puller and his rallies saw good participation of people before the assembly elections.
Moreover, the Election Commission issued instructions for re-polling at a polling booth in Dudhwa Khurd village in Rajasthan's Barmer Lok Sabha constituency owing to breach of vote confidentiality.
2024 Polls: Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha constituency went to the polls in the 2nd phase of Lok Sabha election 2024 on April 26 and recorded a voting percentage of 75.93 percent as per the data by the Election Commission of India.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, sitting MP and union Minister Kailash Choudhary won with a massive margin of 323,808 votes against Congress candidate Manvendra Singh. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BJP candidate Col Sona Ram won against his nearest rival Independent candidate Jaswant Singh 87,461 votes.
