Rahul Kaswan, who switched to Congress after BJP denied ticket, leads in Rajasthan’s Churu

A two-time BJP MP, Kaswan was denied BJP ticket this time for Paralympic medallist Devendra Jhajharia, who is now trailing in the seat.

File image Rahul Kaswan | X: @RahulKaswanMP

Gurugram: Rahul Kaswan, the Congress candidate from the Churu Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan, is leading against his nearest rival Bharatiya Janata Party’s Devendra Jhajharia by a margin of 66,862 votes, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI) data as of 2.50 pm. 

With the BJP before this election, Kaswan’s family has won the last five elections, six in total, from the Churu LS seat. Kaswan won the Churu seat as a BJP candidate in 2014 and 2019, while his father Ram Singh Kaswan won the seat in 1991, 1999, 2004, and 2009, but still the BJP denied him the ticket and fielded Jhajharia instead.

Rahul Kaswan’s case became a talking point across the country on how the BJP replaced several of its old trusted leaders with new ones during ticket distribution.

After being denied the Churu ticket last month, Kaswan fielded some questions to the BJP leadership in a post on X.

“What was my fault? Was I not honest? Was I not hardworking? Was I not a man of integrity? Was I a tainted leader? Did I leave any stone unturned to ensure the development of my constituency?…,” Kaswan asked in a 4 March post.

Another tweet from Churu MP Rahul Kaswan

"After all, what was my fault…?"#LokSabhaElection2024 pic.twitter.com/DmJ5dH1Lp9

— Desh Ka Verdict (@DeshKaVerdict) March 4, 2024

In the 2019 elections, Rahul Kaswan polled 7.93 lakh votes and defeated his nearest rival Rafique Mandelia of the Congress by a margin of over 3 lakh votes.

In 2014, Kaswan polled 5.95 lakh votes and defeated Bahujan Samaj Party’s Abhinesh Maharishi by a margin of nearly 3 lakh votes in a triangular contest in which Congress nominee Pratap Singh secured third position with 1.76 lakh votes.

Jhajharia (43), an Arjuna and Padma Shri awardee, won gold medals in javelin throw at the Athens Paralympics in 2004 and Rio Paralympics 2016 and a silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020.

Of the 12 times that the Churu Lok Sabha seat has gone to the polls since 1971, the BJP has won the seat on six occasions, the Congress on three occasions, and the Janata Party, the Janata Party (Secular) and the Janata Dal on one occasion each.