Sardarpura- The VVIP Constituency In Rajasthan
As the Rajasthan Assembly election is scheduled for November 25, Sardarpura Assembly is one of the VVIP constituencies in Rajasthan. Sardarpura is making headlines as it is the home ground of Ashok Gehlot, the current Chief Minister of Rajasthan. The constituency, which is located in Jodhpur district, is one of the eight assembly segments of the Jodhpur Parliament seat. Former Jodhpur Development Authority chairman Mahendra Singh Rathore is the BJP candidate in Sardarpura.
Ashok Gehlot has been an MLA from the Sardarpura constituency five times. The Rajasthan Chief Minister is currently aiming for a sixth straight win. In 2018, Ashok Gehlot won from this VVIP constituency with a margin of 45,597 votes. While Ashok Gehlot earned 97081 votes, BJP candidate Shambhu Singh Khetasar was able to bag only 51484 votes. Congress got a vote share of over 63 percent in Sardarpura in 2018. In the 2013 Rajasthan Assembly election, while the majority of Congress candidates failed, Ashok Gehlot managed to earn a victory from the same constituency by bagging 77835 votes and defeating the BJP”s Sambhu Singh Khetasar. Ashok Gehlot collected over 54 percent of the total votes polled. The BJP candidate got 59357 votes, which is equal to 41 percent. In 2008, Ashok Gehlot defeated the BJP candidate by 15,500 votes. This data clearly indicates that the veteran Congress leader is improving his scale of victory during every election.
Since 1998, Sardarpura has been the stronghold of the Congress party as well as Ashok Gehlot. Several residents of Sardarpura believe that Ashok Gehlot”s long-standing service to the area will make his victory easier. In the 2022 state budget, Gehlot announced smartphones for 13.3 crore women with three-year internet connections and subsidized electricity for domestic consumers. The Rajasthan CM announced these schemes to make the voters in the state happy. “After seeing the budget, the people will feel the future vision of Rajasthan,” said Ashok Gehlot on that occasion. The welfare schemes implemented by Ashok Gehlot are expected to make a positive impact in Sardarpura, a constituency consisting of 2,48,214 voters.
In the general election held in 2019, Ashok Gehlot”s son Vaibhav lost by 2.74 lakh votes from Jodhpur. Notably, BJP candidate Gajendra Singh Shekhawat took a lead of 18827 votes, even from Sardarpura, the constituency of Ashok Gehlot. In the election campaigns, the BJP is mainly raising the issues of unemployment and women”s safety. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the star campaigner for the BJP, has also severely criticized the Rajasthan CM several times during election rallies.
Recent surveys by both CSDS and CVoter found that over 7 out of 10 respondents expressed satisfaction with the Gehlot government’s performance. Ashok Gehlot is also fully confident about his constituency. However, Rajasthan is witnessing a close battle between the Congress and the BJP. On December 3, we will get to know whether Ashok Gehlot”s magic worked again.
