Jaipur, June 4 (). Congress and BJP leaders say that this time Rajasthan elections will be important and the contest will be interesting.
In such a situation, they accept that despite being a two-party state, new equations will be seen in the state this time due to the entry of many small players.
Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has already announced plans to enter the state. This will change the prospects of many districts like Tonk, which is the constituency of Sachin Pilot.
Political sources say that majority of Muslim votes will go with him, which will dent the chances of Congress.
Similarly, the RLD is already in alliance with the ruling Congress and its MLA Subhash Garg is considered the right-hand man of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and is a minister of state. For now, it looks like the alliance is here to stay.
Haryana’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) has also announced to enter the state’s electoral politics. It has decided to contest on seats where the BJP is weak, so it will help the saffron party gain support in the Jat segment of the state.
JJP president Ajay Singh Chautala said the party would contest several seats including Fatehpur, Suratgarh, Kotputli, Nohar, Bhadra and Lunkaransar. The party is an ally of the BJP in Haryana.
It is pertinent to mention here that Jats have been the vote bank of Congress and hence JJP’s entry will help the saffron party to make inroads in this community which has been angry with BJP ever since Satish Poonia was removed from the post of president.
The next regional player is Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) convenor Hanuman Beniwal, who parted ways with the BJP due to differences with the party over farm law issues. The Jat leader has invited Sachin Pilot to form his party and said that he will support him if he forms a new party.
In a recent press conference, he said that his party is ready to forge an alliance with any party that is opposed to the BJP and the Congress.
He also announced that if a third front is formed, he can defeat both the Congress and the BJP in the upcoming elections.
Another regional player is the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) which has three MLAs. While the party extended support to the Congress during the Rajya Sabha elections, it split after one of its MLAs did not follow party instructions and did not vote.
There is a possibility that there will be a split in this Gujarat based party and a new party may come up to address the issues of tribals in the state.
In such a situation, the million dollar question is whether a third front will emerge in a two-party state. While senior leaders have dismissed these speculations, party leaders like Beniwal are speaking with confidence that the Third Front will prevent the Congress and BJP from forming the government in the next assembly elections.
PK/SKP
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