Barmer Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Important Aspects to Consider, Including Ravindra Singh Bhati
There are twenty-five parliamentary seats in Rajasthan, including the Barmer Lok Sabha constituency. It is the second-largest parliamentary district in the nation, including an enormous 71,601 square kilometers, or twice the size of Belgium. The constituency includes the eighth Assembly segments, namely Jaisalmer, Barmer, Sheo, Baytoo, Pachpadra, Siwana, Gudhamalani, and Chohtan. It encompasses the third and fifth biggest districts in India, Jaisalmer and Barmer, respectively. Given that it shares a long border with Pakistan, it is important and comes under the General category seat.
Present MPs: Col. Son Ram (BJP, 2014), Harish Choudhary (INC, 2009), and Kailash Choudhary (BJP) since 2019.
Candidates: Umeda Ram Beniwal (INC) and Kailash Choudhary (BJP)
Phase 2 Polling Date: April 26, 2024
DYNAMICS POLITICAL
Assembly Elections for 2023: The BJP won five of the eight seats under Barmer in the Assembly Elections of 2023, including Pachpadra, Siwana, Gudha Malani, Chohtan (SC), and Jaisalmer, which is the biggest of the eight seats.
One, the Baytoo seat, was won by the Congress. In the meanwhile, independent candidates gained strength as Priyanka Choudhary of Barmer and Ravindra Singh Bhati of Sheo became victorious.
Three-way race: The BJP, Congress, and Independent candidate Ravindra Bhati are expected to compete in the race for Barmer.
All eyes will be on 27-year-old Ravindra Singh Bhati in Barmer, who is well-liked by Rajput and Jat voters alike for his dynamic young leadership and ability to draw large crowds.
Bhati seems to be leading all the contenders, based on the size of the crowds that attend his nomination rallies. Bhati has independently submitted his candidacy papers, attracting a lot of attention, despite the BJP refusing to give him a ticket.
According to reports, Bhati didn’t waver in the face of the BJP’s efforts to talk him out of standing as an independent. Bhati, who is now an MLA for Barmer’s Sheo Constituency, the most populated assembly seat, which he won in 2023, had hoped to run for parliament under the BJP’s banner but was turned down.
BJP Bets on Kailash Choudhary: In this fiercely fought constituency, the BJP has put up Kailash Choudhary, the current Barmer MP and Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare in the federal cabinet, for a rerun.
Popular in the seat and renowned for being a personable grassroots leader is Kailash Choudhary. Against Congressman Manvendra Singh (a former Barmer MP and BJP leader from 2004 to 2009), Choudhary won the seat in 2019. In a two-way race against the Congress, Choudhary had a victory margin of almost 3.24 lakh votes with a vote share of around 59.52%.
This significant vote share represented a change from the 2014 election, in which Col. Sona Ram of the BJP won by a margin of approximately 87,461 votes and a vote share of 34.36% in a three-way race against former BJP leader Jaswant Singh, who ran as an independent and finished second (28.21%), and Congressman Harish Chaudhary, who finished third (15.53%).
Anti-Incumbency: In Barmer, the BJP faces significant challenges. In the last two elections, which were conducted in 2014 and 2019, the BJP won all 25 seats in the state in a row. Nevertheless, there is a barrier in the Barmer constituency this time.
The party is up against a formidable opponent in this mostly rural Jat seat. Some have said that Kailash Choudhary is ineffective as an MP while being a minister. Even Choudhary acknowledged that there was animosity against him. He even went so far as to say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi shouldn’t be the target of any reprisals for his mistake. Rather, he asked them to support “Kamal,” the BJP’s emblem.
Caste Factors: Approximately 4.5 lakh Jat voters, or 18.75% of the total voter population, reside in Barmer. The vast majority of them supported the BJP in the most recent elections. Even though he is a Jat leader, Kailash Choudhary could not get every Jat vote this time.
The BJP’s reputation within the Jat community has been worse in the last several years due to the rise of problems that are meaningful to them, such as the wrestlers’ projects and the farmers’ demonstrations.
Additionally, Umeda Ram Beniwal, a Jat, has been nominated by the Congress, which is allied with Hanuman Beniwal’s RLP, a Jat-friendly party.
Worries for the party are further increased by the fact that Ravindra Singh Bhati is a Rajput and is anticipated to garner a sizable portion of the Rajput vote, which has historically been a key constituency for the BJP.
Modi Factor: According to some local analysts, those projecting Ravindra Bhati’s victory in Barmer are failing to take into account Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s influence in Rajasthan. Even though Bhati could have a sizable lead, people are likely to give his endorsement precedence over that of any other contender if PM Modi visits the seat.
Remember the Lok Sabha elections in Barmer in 2014? Many predicted that the BJP would lose because of Jaswant Singh’s independent candidacy, but in the end, the party won with 40% of the vote. With 33%, Jaswant Singh secured the second position, with the Congress lagging behind with 18%.
This election has seen a resurgence of caste ties, but PM Modi’s ability to bring the Hindu electorate together across class divides might turn the tide. If Modi magic works out well for the BJP, forward castes like the Rajputs and Brahmins (12–15%) are predicted to gravitate towards the party, and a sizable portion of Jats may also convert despite disagreements. In the seats of Jaisalmer, Barmer, Pachpadra, Siwana, Gudha Malani, and Chohtan, the party is very strong.
Congress’ Ex-Cop Beniwal: Umeda Ram Beniwal, a Jat leader and former police officer who returned from Delhi, has been put up by the Congress. Under the banner of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, Umeda Ram Beniwal ran for the Baytu Assembly seat in elections in both 2018 and2023, but he was unsuccessful both times.
He has, however, shifted his allegiance from the RLP to the Congress in preparation for the next elections. He has promised to enhance education and bring about infrastructural development in the area.
He benefits from the fact that Jat voters who are against Kailash Choudhary will naturally gravitate towards him since he is a relatively new face in the Jat community.
Factors in the Congress’s Favor: The Baytoo seat is the only one that the Congress has in Barmer. In the 2023 assembly elections, the Congress led the BJP in the popular vote with 36.7% of the vote, while the BJP received 31.4% and the RLP 8.2%.
Given the divide between the Jats and the BJP, the Congress, in coalition with the RLP, could be able to consolidate the majority of the Jat vote (18.75%) in the Barmer seat. Additionally, the party may rely on the 11% of Muslims in this electoral base.
Important Constitutional Issues: Water Crisis Groundwater depletion in the Barmer district has reached catastrophic levels, as shown by the Central Ground Water Board’s 2013 groundwater assessment report, which classified the area as “over exploited.” The paucity of drinking water in many communities has been made worse by the diminishing groundwater levels, which are falling by 5–6 meters every ten years.
There were great expectations for the Jal Jeevan Mission. Nevertheless, despite its best efforts, the previous Congress administration’s execution of the JJJM encountered difficulties that resulted in its slow phase-out owing to non-compliance and inadequate visibility of central government activities.
Significant setbacks have been caused by the termination of programs like the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) and the Border Area Development Agency (BARD) in border areas. Even after the Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan plan was introduced in 2016 to encourage water conservation, the Barmer district’s water condition has not much improved.
Farmers’ problems: In addition to the water situation, communities have been dealing with frequent sandstorms and invasions by locusts in recent years, which have harmed farmlands. Higher MSP, improved crop insurance, debt help, and other challenges are also present. To make matters worse for farmers, flash floods and droughts are frequent occurrences.
Opposition to Renewable Energy Projects: Under the previous state administration headed by Congress, Jaisalmer, also referred to as the “Golden City,” became a hub for renewable energy projects. This opposition has been concentrated on Jaisalmer.
To entice electricity firms to the area, the government implemented a number of relaxations and incentives via programs, including the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme 2019, the Solar Energy Policy 2019, and the Renewable Energy Policy 2023. Notably, 16 businesses worked together on a single solar park at Bhadla, including well-known ones like the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Azure Power, Aditya Birla Group, and LNB Group.
Local communities, however, are opposing the government’s move to let commercial power firms lease common property that was formerly used for ponds, sewers, grazing, and water catchment.
Rajasthan has seen the most number of confrontations over solar and wind energy projects, with seven recorded incidents across districts including Barmer, Sum, and Jodhpur, involving around 18,000 hectares of land, according to the Land Conflict Watch database.
Oil boom: By January 2025, Hindustan Petroleum plans to start producing oil commercially at a new refinery in Barmer. More employment would result for residents in the district as a result.
The massive oil refinery project was first conceptualized in 2008, but it was shelved until PM Modi gave it the go-ahead in 2018. It’s interesting to note that previous chief minister Ashok Gehlot envisioned this initiative as well.
Inadequate infrastructure development: Barmer, which borders Pakistan, is a militarily important area for India. Many government initiatives and infrastructural advancements have not reached the local population effectively due to security-related constraints. Barmer is ranked among the 250 most impoverished districts in India.
Due to the park’s large size, settlements close to the Desert National Park (DNP) in the Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha seat have suffered, especially from a lack of government assistance. In distant locations, this has resulted in a lack of essential facilities such as power and water.
But in 2023, hundreds of residents in the area found optimism when the Modi administration decided to loosen DNP regulations.
Concerns pertaining to women: Women’s safety is a major concern in the region. Barmer assaults women at an extremely high rate. The Congress party’s reputation has taken a serious knock due to Mevaram Jain, a prominent member, being involved in the rape of a mother and her daughter.
The area has had many incidents of little girls being raped. A 17-year-old girl is said to have been raped and killed by her own instructor in April 2023.
There is an increase in suicide among young married women. Many suicides have included the mother and child jumping into wells or tankas. In 2019, 48 women committed suicide, 54 in 2020, and 64 in 2021, according to Barmer.
According to district authorities, minors were involved in around 50 incidents during the previous five years. In Barmer, the ratio of males to women who commit suicide (37 to 63) is higher than the national average (27.4 to 72.5).
Voter demographics (2011 Census): 19,32,286 in total
Voters in rural areas: 91.7%
8.3% of voters were urban.
Rate of literacy: 45.7%
Social Demographics: 16.6% of SC voters
Voters from ST: 6.8%
18.75% of Jats
12.5% of Rajputs
BIBLICAL DEMOGRAPHICS
Hindu: about 96%
Muslim: 11%
Jain: 0.6 percent
Christian: 0.6 percent
Sikh: 0.5 percent
INFRASTRUCTURE Roads: In border regions, Bharatmala roads have been built in close proximity to border communities as part of the program, which has proven beneficial to both the general public and the armed forces.
Water Supply: In an effort to alleviate the shortage of water, the government has used conventional rainwater gathering methods such as “tankas,” building a sizable number of reinforced concrete cement tanks next to PMAY homes. About 1,84,766 of these tanks have been constructed since 2016, with 41,580 of them finished in the fiscal year 2023–2024. Initiatives like the Narmada Project, which has provided farmers in Barmer with water from the Narmada, and the Indira Gandhi Canal are also noteworthy.
Barmer is situated in the midst of an oil boom. By January 2025, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) hopes to start doing business at a new oil refinery in the Barmer region of Rajasthan. There is a chance that this project may provide jobs for the local community. Political obstacles caused delays in the implementation of the grandiose oil refinery proposal, which was first conceived in 2008 and given first permission in 2013. But in 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi started work on the project, which was a crucial step in the right direction. Notably, Ashok Gehlot, the previous chief minister, supported this refinery project as well.
Airstrip: Barmer is about to open its first airstrip so that Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter planes may land and take off. Under the direction of officials from the National Highways Authority of India, every feature of the infrastructure was carefully designed in conjunction with Air Force authorities. Located in the Barmer area, this airport represents a noteworthy achievement as it is the first of its type to be connected with a national roadway.
