Election contest entangled in a whirlpool of local and parachute candidate

Karauli: After delimitation, the Karauli-Dholpur Lok Sabha seat was formed in 2008, and in 2009, the seat saw its first Lok Sabha election. The Congress party’s Khiladi Lal Bairawa became the first Member of Parliament, and after that, Dr Manoj Rajoria of the BJP was the MP in 2014 and 2019. For the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has cancelled Rajoria’s ticket and made Indu Devi its candidate. Indu Devi was Karauli Panchayat Samiti Pradhan in 2015 from the BJP.

The Congress has fielded former minister Bhajan Lal Jatav, while Vikram Singh from the BSP and Ram Khiladi Dhobi, an independent, are also in the fray.

Karauli Dholpur Lok Sabha seat is reserved for Scheduled Castes, and it includes four Assembly constituencies each of Karauli and Dholpur. BJP candidate Indu Devi is non-controversial and away from factionalism. She has not been very active in politics after leaving the post of Pradhan; hence, she will have to work harder, but the BJP workers are rallying behind her in this election. In contrast to Indu Devi, when Bhajan Lal Jatav got the ticket, protests started among the Congressmen as they started calling him an outsider. This factionalism in Congress will prove costly for Bhajan Lal.

In the nomination meeting for the BJP candidate, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma gave the mantra of unity to the workers.

Meanwhile, the BSP candidate does not seem to have any impact on the elections, while the presence of independents is only secondary. In such a situation, out of the total four candidates, the main contest is likely to be between the candidates of the Congress and the BJP.

About 21% of the population in Karauli-Dholpur Lok Sabha constituency is SC. Whereas about 17% belong to ST. It is believed that the inclination of the Meena caste will be towards the Congress, but the Gurjar voters will play a decisive role in election.