Vasundhara Raje Casts Vote, Warns Ashok Gehlot of ‘Undercurrent’

Rajasthan Elections 2023 Live: Voting is underway in Rajasthan with several key leaders including chief minister Ashok Gehlot, former CM Vasundhara Raje, former deputy CM and Congress leader Sachin Pilot, state BJP chief CP Joshi, Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat, BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena, and others having cast their votes in the morning.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to ‘create a record’ by voting in high numbers, Raje warned CM Ashok Gehlot of an ‘undercurrent against the Congress party’ that will reflect in the results on 3 December.

A voter turnout of 24.74% was recorded till 11 am.

52.5 million voters are expected to cast ballots across 199 constituencies today.

While the ruling Congress centred its campaign on several welfare schemes and seven guarantees announced by party, the Bharatiya Janata Party accused the Ashok Gehlot-led government of corruption and infighting.

Apart from the Congress and the BJP, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Aam Aadmi Party have also fielded candidates in the polls.

Rashtriya Loktantrik Party president Hanuman Beniwal casts his vote for the Rajasthan Assembly election, at his native village Barangaon, in Nagaur district.

A voter turnout of 24.74% was recorded till 11 am, accoeding to the Election Commission data.

Addressing the media, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said that people have seen teh BJP’s performance for the past 10 years.

“For the past 10 years, there has been a BJP government at the Centre. People are seeing unemployment and inflation. People want change. Congress will benefit from it,” he said.

CM Ashok Gehlot’s son and Congress leader Vaibhav Gehlot cast his vote in Sardarpur.

“The seven guarantees announced by Congress will prove to be a masterstroke. The tradition (to change government alternatively) will change and Congress will repeat government in the state,” he told the media.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot cast his vote in Sardarpura assembly constituency.

“I have received so much love in my locality. The government will repeat here. The seven guarantees of the Congress will work. The claims of this being Modi’s election are baseless. This is an election for the Assembly, Modi’s name won’t work here. After today, all of them will vanish and return after five years. We will still be here,” Gehlot told the media.

Rajasthan minister and Congress leader Pratap Singh Khachariyawas cast his vote in Jaipur.

“I urge everone to vote,” he told ANI.

BJP MP and Sawai Madhopur candidate Kirodi Lal Meena cast hios vote at a polling booth in Sawai Madhopur.

“Voting is slow. Several places do not have proper electricity. So, I have requested the District Election Officer to make proper arrangements for electricity and increase the pace of voting,” he told news agency ANI.

Congress leader Gourav Vallabh cast his vote in Udaipur.

“The voters of Udaipur are with us. Our priorities are to generate employment opportunities for youth, double tourist footfall, and strengthen the mining industry among others,” he told the media.

State BJP chief and MP CP Joshi cast his vote at a polling booth in Chittorgarh.

BJP candidate Baba Balak Nath cast his vote at a polling booth in Alwar’s Tijara.

“Citizens of India are ‘Bharat Bhagyavidhata’. People of Rajasthan will vote for BJP which is dedicated to development, good governance and law & order of the state,” he told the media after voting.

BJP leader & Deputy Leader of Opposition, Satish Poonia cast his vote in Jhotwara.

“Voters of Rajasthan are ready to teach a lesson to the Congress party. The public is more aware of the issues of law & order, appeasement politics, farmer loans,” he told news agency ANI.

BJP MP and candidate from Vidhyadhar Nagar, Diya Kumari cast her vote at a polling station in Jaipur.

BJP MP and candidate from Jhotwara Assembly constituency, Rajyavardhan Rathore cast his vote.

“I urge all voters to celebrate this once-in-5-years festival with great fervour. Exercise your right to vote. This festival decides your future,” he was quoted by ANI as saying.

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat cast his vote at a polling booth in Jodhpur.

“We need to ensure 100% voting. The voters of the state need to vote keeping in mind how Rajasthan can become the growth engine for making India a developed nation,” he said.

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister and BJP candidate from Jhalrapatan Vasundhara Raje cast her ballot at a polling booth in Jhalawar.

“I also agree with him (Ashok Gehlot) that there is an undercurrent. But he will recognise the undercurrent on the 3 December and the undercurrent will make it very clear that it is in favour of the BJP,” she told the media.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot cast his ballot at a polling booth in Jaipur.

“I hope people will use their right to vote today. I hope the public will make the right decision by looking at our vision for the state for the next 5 years,” he said while addressing the press.

“I think Congress will form the government again with a comfortable majority. People want to change the tradition (to change government alternatively). Public’s sentiment is with the Congress,” Pilot added.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal cast his ballot in a polling booth under the Bikaner East constituency.

“BJP will form a strong government in Rajasthan. We can see the power of democracy here as women in large numbers have turned up to cast their vote,” he was quoted as saying by ANI.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot said that he was confident that the Congress would get another chance to govern the state.

“We will get the number required to form the government. People here want to vote for those who deliver and stay committed,” he told news agency ANI.

Taking to X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the electorate of Rajasthan to turn out in maximum numbers and cast their ballots.

“Voting will be held today for Rajasthan Assembly elections. I request all the voters to create a new record of voting by exercising their franchise in maximum numbers. On this occasion, my best wishes to all the young friends of the state who are going to vote for the first time,” he said in a post in Hindi.

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Kailash Choudhary cast his ballot at a polling station in Baytu, Barmer during the Rajasthan election.

“This is a festival of democracy. We all have cast votes for BJP for freedom from corruption, increasing crime, increasing incidents of rape and appeasement in Rajasthan. Congress government will never come to power in the state in future because people of the state have suffered a lot in the last five years. BJP will definitely get more than 150 seats,” he told news agency ANI.

Polling for all 200 seats in the Rajasthan Assembly began at 7:00 AM on Saturday, 25 November, with 52.5 million voters expected to cast ballots across the state.

“It is the son of Tonk who is making a national leader go from door-to-door for votes,” said Ajit Singh Mehta, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate challenging Congress leader Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan’s Tonk constituency.

For Mehta, going up against Pilot in the upcoming elections is a big gamble considering the margin with which Pilot won the seat in 2018 – over 54,000 votes in a constituency of 2.45 lakh voters. Mehta had won the seat for the party in 2013.

The former MLA, however, pointed out Pilot’s changed approach with a ‘door-to-door’ campaign, an observation that some of Tonk’s voters echo as well. One of their key complaints against Pilot was the “difficulty of access to their MLA for five years.”

Pilot’s approach, however, is being seen as a way to counter an anti-incumbent undercurrent against the former deputy chief minister among key sections of his voters that ensured his massive victory last time.

Read full story here.

“It’s all about the money. Whoever has money, has the question paper. Those who have it, they pay Rs 5 lakh, Rs 20 lakh. I don’t think I am weak in studies, but I feel lost before the system,” said Kavi Karauli (29), a government job aspirant from Rajasthan‘s Karauli district.

Aspiring to be a school teacher, Kavi is one of the three siblings who grew up in a poor farming family in Karauli’s Todabhim tehsil. Over the past decade, he has taken up several odd jobs, including daily wage labour, to fund his education. Through the years, Kavi has also appeared for several competitive exams for government jobs.

However, like lakhs of government job aspirants in the poll-bound state riddle by unemployment, Kavi has been a victim to paper leak scandals marring these exams at least twice.

Watch:

As per the 2011 census, 13.48 percent of Rajasthan’s population belong to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. They are mostly concentrated in the districts of Dungarpur, Banswara, Udaipur, and Pratapgarh in southern Rajasthan, and Chittorgarh in western Rajasthan.

Over the past decades, tribal issues such as implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), demand for the tribal state of Bhil Pradesh, and food security have remained key issues among the tribals as they voted for either the Congress or BJP, two main political parties in the state.

“Both Congress and BJP took us for granted. They are indifferent towards our issues. For instance, when a Kanhaiya Lal case happens, both these parties rush to help the family and provide financial relief to them. Case is also fast-tracked. But in cases such as that of Kartik Bhil’s, they go completely silent,” Katara said as he explained the political vacuum that led to the formation of BAP.

Read full story here.

“They killed my son. I want justice,” Nayeema Parveen, 34, repeated these sentences in loop, as she sat inside her home in Jaipur’s Ramganj area on a cold October evening.

“He was returning from his nani’s house along with his younger brother when they attacked him. They cracked open his skull and kept abusing him throughout, calling him a miyan…,” Parveen alleged as she burst into tears.

On 29 September, her eldest son Mohammad Iqbal, 17, succumbed to his injuries in Jaipur’s Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital after he was attacked by a mob following an accident near city’s Subhash Chowk area.

Read full story here.

Key candidates of the Congress include Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, and chief of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee Govind Singh Dotasra.

Key candidates of the BJP include former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and sitting MLA Satish Poonia.

Elections for all 200 seats in the Rajasthan Assembly are scheduled to take place on Saturday, 25 November. Polling will begin at 7:00 AM and end at 6:00 PM.