The defeat of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Surendra Pal Singh in the election for the Karanpur Assembly seat has come as a jolt to the party about a month after it formed the government in Rajasthan.
The Assembly election had been adjourned following the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Kooner on November 15. Rajasthan went to polls on November 25 to elect its new Legislative Assembly. The BJP inducted Mr. Singh into the Council of Ministers soon after the BJP’s victory in the State and made him a Minister of State (independent charge) on December 30.
This prompted the Congress to lodge a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Claiming that the BJP’s “ego was at its peak,” Congress’ Rajasthan unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra said that this was “probably the first time in the country that a candidate was made minister before the election.” The EC did not take any decision on the party’s plea to disqualify Mr. Singh.
Meanwhile, the BJP defended its decision to appoint Mr. Singh. The party quoted Article 164(4) of the Constitution, which states that “any person has the right to hold the post of minister for six months without being elected.”
Nevertheless, the Congress took on the BJP alleging that Mr. Singh’s appointment was in utter disregard of the basic principles of elections, where a level playing field is key. It also highlighted his appointment with the phrase, Sarkar mantri bana sakti hai, vidhayak nahin (Government can make Ministers, not legislators). The Opposition party then propped up Rupinder Singh Kooner, the son of Gurmeet Singh Kooner, as its new candidate for the election held on January 5.
During his campaign, Mr. Kooner highlighted his family’s public service work in the region to garner votes and rode the sympathy wave. Mr. Kooner defeated Mr. Singh by a margin of 11,283 votes, taking the strength of the Congress in the 200-member Assembly to 70. Mr. Kooner claimed that the voters in the constituency rejected the BJP because they were humiliated by the party’s decision to appoint its candidate as Minister. The Congress stated that the people of Karanpur have “saved democracy”.
Mr. Singh, who was given the charge of four departments during the allocation of portfolios, resigned following his defeat. This is the second time that he has lost elections in Karanpur. In the 2018 Assembly elections, Kooner, a three-time MLA, had defeated his nearest rival, an independent candidate, Prithipal Singh, by a margin of 28,376 votes, and Mr. Singh was relegated to the third position.
Having failed to convince the voters about the strength of its “double engine government”, the BJP is set to analyse the factors responsible for its defeat in Karanpur. The party had made it a prestige issue to win the seat, but failed to win it despite Union Ministers and senior leaders from the Centre participating in the election campaign.
The appointment of Mr. Singh as Minister, followed by the portfolio allocations to him, showed that the BJP was overconfident about his victory and the people’s verdict. The party workers also became complacent and did not work hard to connect with the voters, say political observers. An internal survey conducted by the BJP had shown that Mr. Singh was at a disadvantage after the death of his rival, but the party leadership did not take it seriously.
On the other hand, Mr. Kooner referred to his father’s legacy at the hustings and sought to generate a sympathy wave by highlighting his 40-year-old connection with the region. Kooner, a three-time MLA, held various portfolios as Minister of State. All the posters and banners during the campaign featured his photograph.
Meanwhile, Mr. Prithipal Singh, who contested the election as a candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) this time, even called senior party leaders from neighbouring Punjab for the election campaign, which he believed would boost his prospects. But he did not succeed in making the election a triangular contest and the AAP once again failed in making any inroads into the State where it lost all the seats it contested last year.
The outcome of the Karanpur election has infused the Congress with some new energy. However, the party will need more than just a sympathy wave to win elections. It crucially needs to improve its organisational ability if it wants to defeat the BJP.
