The second phase of general election 2024 has been concluded on Friday. After the voting, the fate of several veteran leaders and also the sons of two former chief ministers has been sealed.
Candidates did not leave any stone unturned to woo the voters. After the low voter turnout in the first phase of election, the two main political parties did not want to leave anything for chance. The second phase witnessed better participation than in the first phase.
With this interim data, predicting more voter turnout, BJP seems to breathing a sigh of relief. So far, both the Congress and BJP parties have reasons to feel optimistic. Based on current indications, it appears unlikely that the BJP will secure a hat-trick of victories. This time, the Congress appears to be putting up a strong fight on approximately 5 to 6 out of the 25 seats. Nonetheless the battle on the hot seats has been quite intriguing.
Following the voting conducted on Friday, the efforts of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of State Kailash Choudhary, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for his son Vaibhav Gehlot, and former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for her son Dushyant Singh have all culminated with the EVMs. Talking about the interesting and challenging equations, the seats of all these leaders are being considered as the most dramatic and the hottest in the second phase.
To begin with, Jalore-Sirohi seat is considered important for the political future of former Chief Minister Gehlot. Gehlot’s son Vaibhav was contesting against BJP’s Lumbaram Chaudhary. According to the experience of the organization, Lumbaram is more experienced than former CM’s son Vaibhav, but Ashok Gehlot’s face and political experience had made the elections there interesting. Whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi created an atmosphere for BJP by holding a rally. However, voting was less here compared to other places. So the outcome on June 4 shall exhibit, the choice of voters as the battle between the two candidates had extreme contrast of age, experience and support.
Next interesting seat is Barmer-Jaisalmer where record voting was observed. Besides, the contest here was a triangular, making it more engrossing for the voters and at the same time more challenging for the candidates. Union Minister of State Kailash Chaudhary was seen trapped in a triangular contest on this seat. Congress candidate Ram Beniwal and independent Ravindra Bhati made the contest in Barmer interesting.
So far, it is difficult to make any predictions from the way the voting took place. In Jodhpur, it can definitely be said that Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is said to have the upper hand after voting. Somewhere Shekhawat has benefited from polarization and visits of national leaders. His competition was against Karan Singh of Congress. Similarly, the hard work of former Chief Minister Raje seemed to be paying off in Jhalawar-Baran Lok Sabha seat.
This election is considered very important politically for her, because she is fighting alone in the party. The way voting took place in Jhalawar, it seems that she was successful in getting good votes for her son Dushyant. Everyone will be keeping an eye on how much the Congress candidate can reduce the margin of defeat.
The Kota-Bundi Lok Sabha election hit the roof with an air of excitement as voting concluded. While Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla appears to have gained an advantage, the true outcome will only be unveiled on June 4. On one hand Prahlad Gunjal from the Congress contested in this constituency, raising speculation on whether he can in any way create a hindrance in Birla’s potential hat-trick victory.
Additionally, fierce battles are anticipated in the Tonk-Sawai Madhopur and Banswara-Dungarpur constituencies. In Tonk, Congress’s Harish Meena poses a challenge to BJP’s Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuriya, while in the tribal seat of Banswara-Dungarpur, Bharat Adivasi Party’s Rajkumar Rot competes closely with BJP’s Mahendrajit Malviya. In Chittorgarh, BJP state president CP Joshi has shown a strong performance in the elections, with post-voting assessments suggesting a favorable position. However, senior Congress leader and former Speaker of the Assembly, CP Joshi, faces a challenging situation on the Bhilwara seat.