Rajasthan: Congress discourages voters from supporting its own candidate
The Congress is asking its supporters not to vote for its own candidate in Rajasthan's Banswara-Dungarpur Lok Sabha constituency. According to reports, the Congress has aligned with the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) for the Lok Sabha elections and is supporting the BAP's Rajkumar Roat despite fielding its own candidate, Arvind Damor. While Damor was supposed to withdraw his nomination, he was nowhere to be seen till the last date of withdrawal of nominations was over.
Damor's presence could divide Congress votes
Damor later appeared in front of the media, claiming ignorance of the occurrences and announcing that he would run contest the election. This has resulted in a three-way competition involving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress-BAP coalition, and Damor. The presence of Damor in the election could now potentially divide the Congress votes, possibly tipping the scales in favor of BJP candidate Mahendrajit Singh Malviya.
We are asking people not to vote for Damor: Congress
District-level leader Vikas Bamnia stated, "Our stand is clear, we are supporting the BAP candidate. We are working keeping in mind the sentiments of the people and the directions received from the party." Another local Congress leader stated, "We are clearly asking people not to vote for the Congress candidate (Damor)." While numerous locals informed PTI that the struggle was mostly between Malviya and Roat, several felt Damor's inability to follow party lines was embarrassing for the Congress.
Damor remains confident about his support base
Damor, on his part, remains confident about his support base within a faction of party leaders who disapprove of the alliance with the BAP. The Banswara-Dungarpur seat is reserved for Scheduled Tribes and will witness voting during the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday. The BAP, which was formed in southern Rajasthan ahead of the 2023 assembly elections, has three MLAs, including Roat.
