Congress ticket churn in Bikaner as Amit Shah holds roadshow in the region

Shifting candidate choices for the Bikaner East and Bikaner West seats exposed divisions within the Congress in Rajasthan, as BJP president Amit Shah held a roadshow in the region on Tuesday that party supporters said gave the BJP an advantage.

How the tickets changed

The Congress’s first list, published on November 15, left out BD Kalla, a veteran party figure and former MLA who had lost Bikaner West to the BJP’s Gopal Krishna Joshi in both 2008 and 2013. In his place, Kanhaiya Lal Jhanwar, who had won Nokha in Bikaner district in 2008, was named for Bikaner East, while Yashpal Gehlot, the party’s Bikaner district president, was put up in Bikaner West.

The third list reversed this: Kalla returned in Bikaner West, Gehlot moved to Bikaner East, and Jhanwar was dropped. That prompted Rameshwar Dudi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, to object. Dudi, who had lost Nokha to Jhanwar in 2008, threatened to pull out of the Nokha contest unless Jhanwar was restored. The party gave in, returning Bikaner East to Jhanwar and keeping Kalla in the West, leaving Gehlot without a seat.

Reading the contest

Political experts said the back-and-forth pointed to instability in the Congress camp, and that Shah’s roadshow suggested a stronger BJP position. The BJP had won both Bikaner seats in the last two Assembly elections and was again fielding its two-time sitting members, Joshi in the West and Siddhi Kumari in the East. One analyst said the Congress had looked stronger this time but would be hurt by the infighting.

Union Minister of State and Bikaner MP Arjun Meghwal, co-convenor of the BJP’s Rajasthan election management committee, said the party had the upper hand in both city seats. He said the roadshow had been planned in advance because Bikaner is a historic city near the border, and was not a response to the Congress’s troubles.

State Congress chief Sachin Pilot, speaking to the press in Jaipur on Thursday, said the BJP held four of the district’s seven constituencies but predicted his party would sweep Bikaner. “This last-minute propaganda by Amit Shah ji and his roadshow will have zero impact,” he said.

What happened next

Statewide, the Congress won 99 seats to the BJP’s 73 and Ashok Gehlot became Chief Minister.

Originally published on 24 November 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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