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Three Congress strongmen stake pride in Vasundhara Raje's mission-3

While BJP fights out under one banner in bypolls, Congress still looks divided with three Congress strongmen backing their 'man of choice' in as many constituencies.

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It's three V/s one in the upcoming bypolls. While for BJP, the results will reflect solely on chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Congress would have three heads to count. The outcome of Ajmer battle will test the 'relevance' of Congress state Chief Sachin Pilot, Alwar would testify the influence of Bhanwar Jitendra Singh while results of Mandalgarh assembly seat will decide the political future of former union minister C P Joshi, who looks more interested in cricket politics. 

Surprisingly, the role and involvement of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who was credited for a spirited performance of Congress in recently held Gujarat elections, appears to be limited to a couple of customary meetings and exchange of garlands in these constituencies. 

For BJP, chief minister Raje is leading from the front. Her cabinet colleagues are just holding their grounds to what they have been assigned by Raje. The result will be the report card of her four years of governance and 'practice match' before the 'final tournament' scheduled in November this year. The way Raje's relationship with central leadership (read Modi) oscillated over all these four years, a minor slip here will give air to 'replacement rumours', which has died down after great difficulty. Here victory or defeat, both will have the same mark -Vasundhara Raje. 

But for Congress, there will be three cheerleaders for triumph while defeat will have only one address - Pilot. 

Raghu Sharma, who switched his loyalty from Gehlot to Pilot in recent times, is betting big on Rawat, Gurjar and Brahmin votes in Ajmer. Pilot, who had lost the last election to Sanwar Lal Jat, is camping strongly in Ajmer to avenge his defeat through his new found aide Raghu Sharma. Not only he is campaigning hard, addressing 15-20 rallies daily, he is also organising star roadshows of Raj Babbar and Naghma to attract 'popular' votes. BJP is banking heavily on sympathy votes for late Sanwar Lal Jat's son Ramswaroop Lamba.

"From state chief, he has confined himself to be Ajmer chief just to ensure victory here. Raje is also pushing hard for a 'son rise' for Jat family. Tough battle here is a tussle for supremacy. Pilot has his image at stake while Raje bids her popularity," said Rajesh Tanwar, a political analyst.

The battle at Alwar has Bhanwar Jitendra  Singh's close aid Dr Karna Singh Yadav fighting for his royal pride. A victory here will bolster the image of Jitendra Singh while a defeat will reflect on Pilot's 'less' involvement in Alwar. BJP's candidate Dr. Jaswant Yadav, who is also skill development minister in Raje cabinet, is putting up a tough fight for the veteran Congressman. 

The Mandalgarh assembly seat has become a prestige point for C P Joshi. He has been successful in making Congress once again field Vivek Dhakar who had lost to late BJP MLA Kirti Kumari. He is taking on strong candidate Shakti Singh Hada, who is the sitting Zila Pramukh. A defeat for Dhakar would probably put a full stop on C P Joshi's future role in ticket distribution for the upcoming assembly polls. 

The former chief minister Ashok Gehlot is fishing from shore. His role so far has been not more than an observer. Besides few statements and rallies, he has been quiet in the electoral phase. His silence, though, is speaking loud in political circle. 

"At this juncture Gehlot doesn't want to get into any power struggle with Pilot. With three candidates from three different camps, Congress still looks divided with few months to go for real test. So, Gehlot would not like to put his political strength and acumen at stake when victory is not certain," said Sangram Singh, a veteran political observer.

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