Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018: Will Shekhawati see return of the reds this election?

The political pundits in Shekhawati region are waiting anxiously for the counting day, to not only know who will form the government in the state but also see if the Communist will be back as a political force on the floor of Assembly.

CPM is contesting on all major seats of Shekhawati this time too and has candidates from Sikar, Bikaner, Udaipurwati, Dungargarh etc. Last time in 2013 the party had fought from all major seats in the region but had lost all and was not able to send any candidate to the Assembly in Modi wave.

Even Amraram of CPM who had been winning the Dhod constituency since 1993 till 2003 lost from Dantaramgarh in 2013. This time the fate of candidates like Amraram who is the lone voice of Communist in the state, Pemaram, Pawan Kumar Duggal and other leaders will be decided on Tuesday.

Amraram is contesting from Dantaramgarh constituency this time also. While Pemraram is contesting from Dhod. Apart from these two leaders, the people are watching the fate of Pawan Kumar Duggal from Anupgarh who had won in 2008 Assembly polls and also on Girdhari Lal who is contesting from CPM from Anupgarh constituency in Bikaner. The political pundits are anxious to find out that if the farmer agitations, which happened in Shekhawati region in June 2017 and thereafter in Reengus in February this year, is able to turn the tide in favour of Communists. Historically, Shekhawati has been the place where Communists have been in a strong position. Even in 2013 when CPM and CPI were not able to get a single seat, still CPM got vote share of 0.89 % while CPI got vote share of 0.18%. The best position of CPM in recent history had been in 2008 election when three candidates won from CPM and party got vote percentage of 9.22 %. CPI that time got vote percentage of 2.11 %.

In Shekhawati region, presence of Communist is already being felt at college level as CPM affiliated Students Federation of India (SFI) has been contesting elections in all major universities and colleges since 1970s. Now the voters have already decided and in a few hours state will see if there is Communist resurgence here or is it a spent force.

The Equation

Even Amraram of CPM who had been winning the Dhod constituency since 1993 till 2003 lost from Dantaramgarh in 2013. This time the fate of candidates like Amraram, Pemaram, Pawan Kumar Duggal and others will be decided on Tuesday.