Campaigning for the Anta assembly bypoll in Rajasthan’s Baran district ended on Sunday, setting the stage for a triangular contest between the BJP’s Morpal Suman, Congress’s Pramod Jain Bhaya, and Independent Naresh Meena.
Raje framed the contest as a fight between “people’s power and money power,” while Gehlot described it as an election to “continue the work that brought relief to people.”
Results are expected on November 14.
Campaigning for the Anta assembly bypoll in Rajasthan’s Baran district ended on Sunday evening, concluding an intense three-way contest between the ruling BJP, the opposition Congress, and an Independent candidate.
The by-election has evolved into a battle for Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and former chief ministers Vasundhara Raje and Ashok Gehlot.
Polling will take place on November 11, with results to be declared on November 14. The seat fell vacant after BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena was disqualified following his conviction for pointing a pistol at a sub-divisional magistrate.
The BJP has fielded local leader Morpal Suman, said to be Raje’s choice, while the Congress has nominated Pramod Jain Bhaya, a two-time MLA, former minister, and Gehlot loyalist. Independent Naresh Meena, who had earlier sought a BJP ticket, has made the contest triangular by attracting substantial local support.
For the BJP, the bypoll is being viewed as a test of internal unity. On Thursday, Sharma and Raje held a joint roadshow in Anta — a rare display of solidarity aimed at projecting cohesion amid talk of factional divides within the party.
Party leaders said Suman’s candidature represented a consensus between the chief minister and Raje.
Raje described the election as a clash between people’s power and money power. "One side has the tens of crores, the other side has people's strength. We are with the people and the money-power will lose," she said.
Senior Congress leader Gehlot, who personally campaigned for Bhaya, framed the contest around welfare and public trust. "This is not just an election. It is about continuing the work that brought relief to people," he told a gathering in Baran.
Independent candidate Naresh Meena, a prominent figure among the region’s Meena community, has emerged as a wild card. His growing traction among tribal and OBC voters could impact both BJP and Congress prospects. Several local sarpanches and youth leaders have rallied behind him, boosting his grassroots reach.
The Anta constituency, located in the politically sensitive Hadoti belt — long considered Raje’s stronghold — has alternated between the two main parties over the years. The BJP won in 2013 and 2023, while Bhaya claimed victory for Congress in 2008 and 2018.
Local residents say caste equations, development concerns, and perceptions of the state government are influencing voter sentiment.
District Election Officer Rohitash Singh Tomar said that all arrangements have been made for the poll, including paramilitary deployment at sensitive booths. "We are ensuring peaceful, free and fair polling," he said.
The bypoll marks Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma’s first major electoral test since taking office.
For the Congress, the contest holds equal significance — a victory for Bhaya would reaffirm public faith in Gehlot’s welfare-oriented politics and boost party morale after its assembly poll defeat.
Meanwhile, Naresh Meena’s performance will signal the rising influence of independent candidates and caste-based mobilisation that could shape Rajasthan’s future political landscape.
The results on November 14 are expected to reveal more than just the winner in Anta — they could serve as an early indicator of shifting political undercurrents ahead of upcoming local body polls in the state.
