As Early Rajasthan Numbers Show the Possibility of a Tight Contest, RLP’s Beniwal Weighs His Options
Kota (Rajasthan): "We have not decided with whom our party will align in Rajasthan; we are waiting for the results to come in, and then we will decide," says Rashtriya Loktantrik Party chief Hanuman Beniwal.
The counting of votes for the Rajasthan Assembly elections for 199 seats began at 8 am. The Wire spoke with Rashtriya Loktantrik Party Chief Hanuman Beniwal. Beniwal is an MP from Nagaur, and contesting the Khinwsar assembly seat, which is one of the assembly seats comprising the Nagaur Lok Sabha constituency.
Most exit polls show a tight contest between the two major parties in Rajasthan. If the situation warrants, with whom will Hanuman Beniwal’s party align?
"See, we have not decided yet; we are waiting for the results to come out. Based on that, we will decide where to go and whom to support," says Hanuman Beniwal.
Last year, when The Wire spoke with Beniwal, he highlighted that he is against both Vasundhara Raje and Ashok Gehlot. But what if a chief ministerial candidate emerges from between these two? The question arises: will Beniwal support them?
"We will see what to do if the situation becomes like this, and then we will decide. Let the picture get clear by afternoon. We also have to see how many candidates from our party will win."
On being asked how many seats he thinks he will win, Hanuman didn’t provide an answer.
The last time Hanuman Beniwal spoke with The Wire, he had said, "If Sachin Pilot forms a party or Congress pushes him forward for Chief Minister, we will support Congress."
Is he still sticking to what he had told The Wire back then?
"No, things have changed now, and we have not decided anything on anything."
Beniwal is supposed to have a strong hold over the influential Jat voters in Rajasthan. RLP won only 3 seats out of the 58 seats it had contested in the 2018 Rajasthan assembly elections, but it made a significant difference to the result in many other constituencies in the state.
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