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November 29, 1998

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Congress wins historic 150 seats in Rajasthan

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The Congress has matched the 21-year-old record of 150 seats in the 200-member Rajasthan assembly, set by the Janata Party in 1977.

All the 197 results have been declared, with the election in three constituencies -- Bhim, Kumbhalgarh and Mundwa -- countermanded.

The Bharatiya Janata Paty has bagged 33 seats, the Janata Dal three, the Bahujan Samaj Party two, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India-Marxist one each. Independents have captured seven seats.

This is the third time the Congress has attained a two-thirds majority in the state assembly -- it did this first in 1972 followed by 1980.

Only 11 of Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's 39 ministers survived the debacle. Among the ministers who won the poll were Bhanwar Lal Sharma from Jaipur's Hawa Mahal, V P Singh from Aasind, Nand Lal Meena from Pratapgarh, Dr Ram Pratap from Haumangarh and Sonwar Lal Jati from Bhinai.

Among the 28 ministers humbled in the poll were Deputy Chief Minister Hari Shankar Bhabra, Home Minister Kailash Meghwal from Shahpura, Higher Education Minister Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi and Energy Minister Ghanshyam Tiwari from Chomu.

The BJP received the first drubbing from its stronghold in the Pink City when two of its nominees lost to the Congress as the counting process ended swiftly in the five constituencies where electronic machines had been utilised. The party retained only one seat in the state capital.

The state sees the Congress back in power after eight years.

Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who tendered his resignation on Saturday evening, won his Bali assembly seat recording his membership in all the eleven Houses in the state since 1952.

Former Congress chief minister Shiv Charan Mathur (Mandalgarh) and leader of the Opposition in the outgoing assembly Parasram Maderna (Bhopalgarh) won with impressive margins.

Shekhawat regretted that the people did not heed the BJP's stand that development was the main issue. Rajasthan Pradesh Congress president Ashok Gehlot said the people were dissatisfied with the BJP government's ''failure on all fronts.''

Gehlot did not agree that the BJP suffered due to the anti-incumbency factor. He said the people were against the BJP for its ''total misrule''.

Some Winners:

Seat Winner Loser Margin

Masuda Haji Kayyum Khan Prahlad Sharma 1,500 INC BJP
Amer Sahded Sharma Gopi Ram Jat 10,344 INC BJP
Ganganagar Radhey Shyam Surendra Rathore 6,587 INC Ind
Chomu Bhagwan Sahai Ghansyam Tiwari 51,063 INC BJP
Salumber Roop Lal Phool Chand 11,693 INC BJP
Sarada Raghuveer Meena Nand Lal 28,456 INC BJP
Sursagar Bhanwar Balai Mohan Meghwal 24,512 INC BJP
Bilara Rajendra Chaudhary Ram Narain Dudi 13,750 INC BJP
Jodhpur Jugal Kabra Surya Kanta Vyas 10,918 INC BJP
Chautan Abdul Hadi Bhagwan Das 20,000 INC BJP
Mandalgarh Shiv Charan Mathur Badri Prasad 16,605 INC BJP
Banera Ram Lal Jat Parakram Singh 10,997 INC BJP
Bhilwara Devendra Singh Ramrichhpal Noowal 22,000 INC BJP
Shergarh Khet Singh Rathore Nandhar Singh 1,289 INC BJP
Osian Narendra S Bhati Raghvendra P Singh 18,758 INC BJP
Sikrai Mahendra Meena Ramkrishna Meena 15,010 INC BJP
Hawa Mahal Bhanwar Lal Sharma R C Shah BJP INC
Sikar Rajendra Pareek Prem Singh 18,967 INC BJP
Bali B S Shekhawat Umeed Singh 7,600 BJP INC
Jaisalmer Govardhan Kalla Shyam Singh 15,962 INC Ind
Aasind V P Singh Nanoram BJP INC
Jamai (ST) Tejilal Saryam Mansaram Badica 19,967 INC BJP
Shahpura Devi Lal Kailash Meghwal 5,100 INC BJP
Desuri (BC) Atma Ram Meghwal Achala Ram 4,551 INC BJP
Pindwara Lal Ram Garasia Prabhu Ram 13,732 INC BJP
Khandela Mahadeo Singh Bansidhar 18,585 INC BJP
Hindon (SC) Bharosi Yadav Kalu Ram 6,809 INC Ind
Shed Amin Khan Hari Singh 19,317 INC BJP
Pachpadra Amaararam Madan Kaur 3,427 BJP INC
Neem-ka- M Modi R Khandelwal 1,039 thana INC Ind
Laxmangarh P Mordia K G Baber 11,108 INC BJP

Assembly Election '98

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