Polarization of non-BJP votes couldn’t be stopped

Jaipur: After forming the government, BJP failed in the first political test held on Karanpur seat. There were four main reasons behind the failure. The first and most important reason for this was that BJP failed to stop the polarization of non-BJP votes. AAP’s Prithipal Singh, who was at No.2 in 2018 Assembly polls, got only 11,912 votes this time. After MLA Gurmeet Kooner’s demise, Congress, played a big ‘Sympathy card,’ & made his son RS Kooner its candidate. Rupinder was seen leading right from the beginning. In all the by-elections held in Rajasthan in last 5 years, all other equations have failed before the ‘Sympathy card.’ Rupinder gave a crushing defeat to Minister Surendrapal Singh TT.

Talking about caste equation, BJP failed to win over its core OBC voters in this poll. In Assembly polls, very few tickets were given to the OBC voters in Bikaner division. Its effect was also visible in Karanpur. Here its effect was visible in other OBC castes including the ‘Kumawats.’ The biggest lesson for BJP from Karanpur’s defeat is that one can’t be assured about LS polls of 2024 based on results of Assembly polls. Separate micro planning is necessary for every election.