New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP swept the Lok Sabah elections in the desert state of Rajasthan by winning all the 25 seats. Although officials results were yet to be announced, the saffron party was leading in all the 25 parliamentary constituencies with a massive margin with most votes already counted.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot conceded the defeat. In a statement, the Rajasthan cheif minister thanked people and party workers, saying that people's mandate was above everything and that he accepts it with humility.
"Thanks to the people and the Congress workers for peaceful voting. In a democracy, the mandate is honoured above everything and we accept it with humility," Gehlot said. The Rajasthan chief minister, however, didn't take the responsibilty for the party's poor show in the state.
Former Rajasthan chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje termed the victory an outcome of the development works done by Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi and the BJP government in the last five years.
"I congratulate the Central & State party leadership, voters & our hardworking karyakartas, who are our strength. BJP is, was and will always retain the trust, faith and love of people across India," Raje tweeted.
The Congress, which has a wafer-thin majority in the state Assembly, has failed to breach the BJP fortress of Bikaner, Churu, Jhalawar and Jalore where lotus has bloomed in the last three parliamentary elections.
In the Bakiner seat, Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is leading by more than 2.60 lakh votes over his cousin and former IPS officer Madan Gopal Meghwal.
Arjun Ram Meghwal had won the seat in 2009 and 2014 and before him, it was veteran Bollywood actor Dharmendra won the seat for BJP in 2004. The Jat-dominated Churu parliamentary seat has been a BJP bastion for over a decade now. Former MP Ram Singh Kaswan's son Rahul is leading in the seat by 3.29 lakh votes over Congress' Rafiq Mandelia.
Dushyant Singh, the son of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, is leading by over 4.30 lakh votes and is all set to get elected for the fourth time from Jhalawar seat. The Congress had fielded Pramod Sharma, who had joined the party from the BJP.
(Official results will be updated once they are declared by the Election Commission of India.)
