Rahul Gandhi will lose Rajasthan by a bigger margin, says Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday predicted that Congress president Rahul Gandhi would suffer another defeat in Rajasthan, saying the BJP was confident of winning the assembly election and was gaining from a contest within the Congress over the chief minister’s post.

A cricket jibe

Speaking during his campaign in Pokhran, Shekhawat compared Gandhi to former Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, who often failed to score batting at number ten, and said Gandhi failed to score even as an opener. He said Gandhi would be out for zero in Rajasthan too.

Shekhawat described Gandhi’s rallies in the state as ineffective. “Rahul Gandhi will lose the Rajasthan elections with a much bigger margin than his earlier defeats,” he said, adding that Gandhi would set a world record.

Claims about the campaign

The minister said the BJP’s position was getting better every day. He accused the Congress of spreading misleading propaganda, but said voters who compared the record of the previous Congress government with that of the current one had concluded the BJP was the only choice. He claimed the infighting that followed the Congress’s ticket distribution had revealed the party’s true nature.

Shekhawat said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rallies had given the campaign a lift. Asked whether voters were angry with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, he disagreed, pointing to the crowds at her rallies. He also said the Congress had not dared to name a chief ministerial candidate.

Rajasthan was due to vote for 199 seats on December 7, with counting on December 11.

What happened next

The Congress won 99 of those 199 seats and the BJP 73. Ashok Gehlot became Chief Minister.

Originally published on 1 December 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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