Lok Sabha polls: Om Birla eyes hattrick of wins in Kota, to face Congress' Prahlad Gunjal

Bharatiya Janata Party for the third time in a row has fielded Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla from Kota, who had previously registered victories in 2019 and 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He is up against Congress' Prahlad Gunjal, a former BJP leader.

Gunjal is a former MLA from Kota-North and represented the Assembly from 2013 to 2018. He quit the BJP after losing to Congress' Shanti Dhariwal in the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly elections. He was runner-up in the Kota North Assembly. He is the former MLA from Kota-North (2013-2018),

Kota constituency comprises eight assemblies -- Keshoraipatan, Bundi, Pipalda, Sangod, Kota North, Kota South, Ladpura and Ramganj Mandi.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Om Birla defeated Congress candidate Ramnarain Meena by a significant margin of 279,677 votes. Birla got 59.1 per cent of the vote share.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Birla defeated Congress' Ijyaraj Singh with a margin of 2,00,782 votes. Later, Ijyaraj Singh joined the BJP.

Om Birla has expressed confidence in his victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"The people of Kota have always loved me and it is because of this that I am contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the third time and this time also the people of the area will make me win with a good majority," he said.

The last day of campaigning for phase 2 of the Lok Sabha polls is April 24.

Voting for Lok Sabha polls in Rajasthan is being held in two phases. Polling for 12 seats was held in the first phase on April 19 and voting for the remaining 13 seats will be contested in the second phase on April 26.

The counting will take place on June 4.

In 2019, the BJP registered a sweeping victory, winning 24 out of 25 seats. Rashtriya Loktrantrik Party's Hanuman Beniwal also won a seat.

The first phase of voting for 102 parliamentary constituencies spread over 21 states and Union Territories was held on Friday with a voter turnout of nearly 64 per cent. (ANI)