Veteran leaders secure wins in Rajasthan assembly elections after decades

JAIPUR: Seventy-five-year-old Bheem Raj Bhati, who fought on a Congress ticket from Pali constituency, has won an assembly election after a gap of 30 years. He was last elected in 1993 as an Independent. In 30 years since, he suffered five losses in a row, but emerged a winner in the sixth attempt.


Similarly, the oldest winning candidate, 83-year-old Hari Mohan Sharma, had last won an election in 2003 from Hindoli. He later lost elections from Hindoli (2008) and Bundi (2018), and did not contest in 2013. In 2018, he lost by 713 votes to the Congress candidate from Bundi. But the party showed confidence in him and gave him the ticket.

Hari Mohan Sharma.

In yet another instance, 74-year-old Congress candidate Harendra Mirdha won from Nagaur after 25 years. The only time he won an assembly election was in 1998. He had contested elections in 2003 and 2008 (Congress) as well as 2013 (independent candidate), but lost all the three. He did not contest in 2018 and has now succeeded among a clutch of senior leaders making a successful comeback after decades.

Bheem Raj Bhati is a businessman who has held key positions in Congress in the past, but has seen many ups and downs in his political career in the last three decades. “Thirty years is not a short period and I never lost hope. I fought as Congress candidate and sometimes as an independent. I managed to pull off a win after five losses. I am excited and happy,” Bhati told TOI.

Bheem Raj Bhati.

With a BE degree in mechanical engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Bhati has big plans for developing Pali.

“Shortage of drinking water is a major issue here. Medical facilities need to improve and industrial pollution is affecting agriculture badly. I will address all these issues,” he said. Bhati is in the sixth spot in the list of the oldest winning candidates this assembly elections.

“We cannot express our feeling,” said Raghav Sharma, grandson of Bundi winner Hari Mohan Sharma, adding that he is active even at this age and that the people voted for his vast experience in politics and as a man on the ground. Sharma, who won an assembly election for the first time in 1985 from Bundi, has served as minister for finance, industries, public health and engineering.

Of the nine oldest winning candidates, eight contested on a Congress ticket, while one, 75-year-old Vasudev Devnani, the only BJP candidate in this list, was elected from Ajmer North constituency, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) noted.