"In the last four assembly elections, the BJP had changed its faces to defeat Gehlot, but none of them has been able to snatch Sardarpura from the Congress," he added. The BJP candidate, however, exuded confidence of winning the seat. "Gehlot has an upper hand due to a caste-based vote bank. There is no other basis. Public sentiments are not with the Congress. Gehlot has neglected constituency," Khetasar told PTI.
Gehlot has, however, rubbished these allegations. "Since Jodhpur is my hometown, it has suffered a step-motherly treatment by the Vasundhara Raje government. She purposefully deprived Jodhpur from developmental works," he said. Congress' other candidates for the district's assembly seats include three faces from well-known political families of the state, including some linked to controversies in the past.
While Mahipal Maderna and Malkhan Singh Bishnoi, the main accused in the sensational Bhanwari Devi case, are currently facing trial and are in judicial custody, their family members are in the electoral fray. Congress has given ticket to Divya Maderna, Mahipal's daughter, from the Jat-dominated Osian constituency. In 2013, Divya's mother, Leela Maderna was fielded from the same seat but she had lost to the BJP's Bhera Ram Siyol.
Malkhan Singh Bishnoi's son Mahendra Bishnoi has been given a ticket from Luni, which is also dominated by the Jat community. Mahendra's grandmother Amri Devi had contested from Luni last time but she had lost to BJP's Jogaram Patel. The 199 seats of the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly go to polls on December 7 and results will be declared on December 11.