LS polls: Congress aims to breach BJP fortress in Jhalawar-Baran as Dushyant Singh looks to maintain family stronghold

Jhalawar-baran (Rajasthan) [India], April 25 : As the voting for second phase of the Lok Sabha elections gets underway tomorrow, the 'Jhalawar-Baran' constituency will also go to polls, with BJP MP Dushyant Singh trying to continue his family legacy as well as his party's dominance on the seat, while facing an old rival.
The Jhalawar-Baran constituency is considered a stronghold of Vasundhara Raje and her family. The two-time Chief Minister herself won the seat five times in a row from 1989 to 1999.
Notably, Lok Sabha polls happened very frequently in that decade because of several unstable governments.
After Raje, her son Dushyant Singh has also won the seat for four times in a row.
Dushyant Singh is pitted against Urmila Jain Bhaya from Congress. Urmila is the wife of former state minister Pramod Jain Bhaya and is currently party's district chief of Baran.
Notably, this face-off will be a repeat of 2009, when the two leaders contested against each other from the same constituency 15 years ago. In 2009, Dushyant won the seat by over 52,000 votes.
The incumbent MP, who won the seat by over 4.5 lakh votes, would be looking forward to continue his domination from the seat.
While, Congress' Urmila Jain, would try to turn the tide and stop the BJP juggernaut in the constituency.
The Jhalawar-Baran seat comprises eight Assembly segments including Anta, Kishanganj, Baran-Atru, Chhabra, Jhalrapatan, Dag, Manohar Thana and Khanpur.
Recently, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, exuded confidence that her son would come out victorious from the seat and BJP-led NDA would win 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
"Our elections are here. '400 paar' will happen, I am sure..." she told reporters on April 23.
She said that there is a family connection with the constituency of Jhalawar-Baran.
"We have a family relationship here. There is no problem here. We have been contesting (elections) here for 35 years. I have full faith in the seniors of the family. And I receive their blessings as well," Raje told ANI.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma also exuded confidence that the BJP is going to win the majority of the Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan and everyone has faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched a scathing attack in Rajasthan's Banswara while alleging that Congress is planning a "deep conspiracy" to seize people's properties and distribute it.
Further reiterating his remark, PM Modi said that he had put the truth before the country and his 90-second speech has created 'panic' in entire Congress and INDIA bloc.
Notably, this election is being held around six months after the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government was voted out of power in Rajasthan and BJP formed the government with a new leadership.
Bhajan Lal Sharma was sworn in as the Chief Minister, and Prem Chand Bairwa and Diya Kumari were inducted as his deputies.
Polling in Rajasthan is being held in two phases, on April 19 and April 26. The counting is scheduled on June 4.
Polling for 12 Lok Sabha seats concluded in the first phase on April 19, while the remaining 13 seats will go to the polls in the second phase on April 26.
In 2019, BJP won 24 out of 25 seats in Rajasthan, while one seat was won by Rashtriya Loktantrik Party leader Hanuman Beniwal. Congress failed to open its account in the seat.