Rajasthan polls: Will AAP, SP & BSP impact election results?

Jaipur : Rajasthan has conventionally been known and seen as a "two party state" where a trend of power being shifted to alternate hands has been witnessed in the last few decades. The voting for Rajasthan Assembly elections was held on Saturday, with political analysts saying that poll percentage was "much higher than expected".

The Election Commission announced over 68 per cent of voting, however, the final figures were yet to be announced as people were standing in long queues even after 8 p.m. at many polling booths.

While some political observers have been giving a thumbs up to the BJP looking at the turnout, there have also been discussions pondering if rebels, and other parties like BSP, SP and AAP could make a difference to the outcome. Sources said that the camp of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot team as well as that of former CM Vasundhara Raje are eagerly waiting for the outcome.

They are exploring if their respective parties grab 85 plus seats so that, they can touch the magical figure of 100 with Independents, RLP, SP and other parties. Prakash Bhandari, a political analyst, said: "Congress, however, it seems, will be winning around 70 seats. In such a scenario, it seems difficult for them to form the government.

"The party might make CP Joshi and Sachin Pilot as leader of opposition," he added. Meanwhile, other political analysts are also backing the BJP to form the government. Eventually, the discussions doing the round as of now is "Kaun Banega Mukhya Mantri" (who will become the chief minister?)

Political leaders said that if the BJP gets around 100 seats, the ball may land in the court of former CM Vasundhara Raje, and she might be given a chance to lead. In such a scenario, other MLAs including Independents can also be pooled in to strengthen the party.

Meanwhile, sources said that Gehlot and his team are also looking at a similar combination. If the party gets 75 plus seats, Independent rebels, MLAs from BSP can be pooled in to make new political equations in the state.

All six MLAs in BSP have merged with Congress in last two terms playing the role of turncoats. Similarly, Samajwadi Party (SP) has also fielded their candidates in Rajasthan this time. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is yet to make a foray in the state.

Meanwhile, there are other party leaders from Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, Bharat Adivasi Party which are being looked upon with raised eyebrows as they are expected to win 3 seats each. Meanwhile, on Saturday, both Congress and BJP leaders expressed hope that their respective parties will form the government.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot exuded confidence that Congress would buck the decades-old trend of alternate governments winning in the desert state. Gehlot said: "The government will be repeated this time, and that's for sure."

BJP state president CP Joshi said that "today, the people stood in long lines throughout the day and voted in protest against the misgovernance, anti-people policies and false guarantees of the Congress".

Meanwhile, Election Management Committee convenor Narayan Panchariya said: "For the last five years, people in the state have been troubled due to which there was an anger among the people against this Congress government."