Painted Saffron in 2013, Pink City Seems to be Going Back to Congress

New Delhi: The Pink City, which was painted saffron in the 2013 Assembly polls as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept all the eight constituencies, seems to be gradually going back to the Congress if exit polls and early leads are anything to go by.

Early results on Tuesday indicated that the Congress could not only retake Rajasthan, but also Jaipur. Out of the eight seats in the Capital, the Grand Old Party is leading in Hawa Mahal, Civil Lines, Kishan Pole, Adarsh Nagar, Malviya Nagar while the BJP is ahead in Sanganer and Bagru.

Despite the anti-incumbency factor in Rajasthan, the BJP stuck with its incumbent MLAs in Jaipur. Here is a detailed look at all eight constituencies of Jaipur.

Hawa Mahal

In Hawa Mahal, which recorded a voter turnout of 72.78 per cent, BJP’s Surendra Pareek is up against Mahesh Joshi of the Congress. In 2013, Pareek had romped home by beating the Congress candidate with a margin of 12,715 votes.

Vidhyadhar Nagar

After two consecutive wins in Vidhyadhar Nagar, which has recorded a turnout of 69.81 per cent, the BJP has fielded Narpat Singh Rajvi against Congress’ Sitaram Agarwal. Rajvi bagged the seat in 2013 by a margin of 37,913 votes.

Civil Lines

The Civil Lines seat is a typical example of the bigger trend of the incumbent party being voted out in every election in Rajasthan. With a turnout of 68.76 per cent, BJP’s Arun Chaturvedi is up against Pratap Singh Khachariyavas of the Congress. Chaturvedi snagged the seat from the Congress in 2013 by a margin of 11,129 votes.

Kishan Pole

Mohan Lal Gupta of the BJP, who had won Kishan Pole by a margin of 9,685 votes in 2013, faces Congress’ Amin Kagzi this time. The seat, which has recorded a voter turnout of 72.27 per cent, was also bagged by the saffron party in 2008 with a margin of 4,739 votes.

Adarsh Nagar

Adarsh Nagar, which recorded a turnout of 71.65 per cent, had been won by the BJP twice in 2008 and 2013 with a margin of 3,803 and 1,718 respectively. BJP’s Ashok Parnami, who had won the seat in 2013, is up against Congress’ Rafeek Khan.

Malviya Nagar

Malviya Nagar, which recorded a voter turnout of 67.9 per cent, too had been won by the BJP in the last two elections. BJP’s Kalicharan Saraf, who won the seat in 2013 by a margin of 48,718 votes, is contesting against Congress’ Archana Sharma. The BJP won this seat in 2008 by a margin of 17,558 votes.

Sanganer

Sanganer, which recorded a turnout of 68.77, is a triangular contest this time. The BJP won the seat in 2013—with Ghanshyam Tiwari romping home by a margin of 65,350 votes—and in 2008 by 32,912 votes.

Tiwari, who quit the party and floated his own Bharat Vahini Party, is up against Jaipur mayor and BJP leader Ashok Lahoti and Congress’ Puspendra Bhardwaj.

Bagru

In Bagru, which recorded a turnout of 72.37 per cent, Kailash Verma of the BJP faces Congress’ Ganga Devi. Verma had won the seat by 46,356 votes in 2013 and the Congress 3,517 votes in 2008.