Baba Balaknath, BJP’s sitting MP from Rajasthan’s Alwar is leading from Tijara Assembly seat, according to the Election Commission of India’s official trends. The 39-year-old, who shot to the limelight after BJP nominated him as the candidate for the Rajasthan Assembly Election 2023, is among those seen as frontrunners in the race for the Chief Minister’s post in the event of the BJP refusing to name Vasundhara Raje as its obvious choice.
According to the poll affidavit submitted by the ‘Yogi of Rajasthan’, BJP’s Tijara candidate has over Rs 13 lakh in bank accounts. He has completed his schooling. Baba Balaknath is unmarried and belongs to ‘Nath Sampradaya’. He is the chief ‘Mahant’ of Nath community’s Rohatk ‘gaddi’. The mutt runs a university, hospital, medical college, and a school among other key institutions. He stays in the public eye due to his assertive stance on the Hindutva agenda. His charismatic and bold image has garnered significant popularity among the masses. Baba Balaknath hails from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
Not just Tijara, BJP is leading in majority of the seats across Rajasthan. The BJP has surpassed the halfway mark in Rajasthan, with its candidates leading in 114 seats, while the Congress is ahead in 68, as per Election Commission trends available on Sunday for the assembly polls. The Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) and BSP are leading in three seats each, and the CPI (M) is leading in one. The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) are leading in one seat each. Independent candidates are leading in eight constituencies.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Tikaram Jully, Brijendra Ola, Vishvendra Singh, and Mahendra Jeet Singh Malvia are among the Congress candidates who are leading, while parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal and assembly speaker CP Joshi are trailing. Congress candidate Sachin Pilot is leading in the Tonk seat with a margin of 943 votes, while BJP leader and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje is leading in the Jhalrapatan assembly seat with 7,025 votes.