The Congress in Rajasthan is struggling in its fight against the newly emerging BJP leadership under former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. According to the C-Voter Pre-poll survey, the state of Rajasthan is slipping out of reach of the Congress, with the party losing its hold in the Mewar, Marwah and Harouti districts of the state.
The party’s poor poll prospects can be attributed to the infighting within the Rajasthan Congress particularly between C.P. Joshi and the incumbent Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The angry Bishnoi and Jat communities have also done little to help the cause of Gehlot, as Raje’s popularity increases in the state.
According to the survey, the BJP will have its best performance in Rajasthan since 1998, gaining a 7% increase in vote share, while the Congress’ vote share is expected to fall by 2%. The Congress is likely to lose out 31 seats to the BJP.
The survey shows that the Congress will get 65 seats while the BJP will get a massive 112 seats to form the next government in Rajasthan.
The Lokniti and CSDS Survey for CNN–IBN and The Week shows that the BJP is expected to secure between 115 and 125 seats out of 200, while the Congress will get a number between 60 and 68 seats. In the 2008 assembly elections, the Congress had 96 members and the BJP has 76.
The situation might be similar to the 2003 assembly polls where the BJP had 120 seats and the Congress has 54 seats.