Jaipur: On one side is a Congress neta who recently joined the BJP, and on the other is the minority vote. Although considered a Congress citadel for years, this time a tough fight is expected in the bypoll to Ward 63 of Jaipur Municipal Corporation-Heritage.The bypoll is set for next month following the death of Sushila Devi, who won in 2020 on a Congress ticket. Her son, Sunil Meena, was an influential Congress leader in the ward but he recently switched over to the BJP. Being a woman-reserved ward, BJP is planning to field Meena’s wife, Seema Meena, as its candidate.Now the question is whether voters of Ward 63, mostly minorities, would keep faith in Meena and his family or continue to vote for the Congress.“I am confident that if given a chance, my wife would make it for the BJP. This won’t be the first time I stand against Congress from this constituency. In 2014, I contested from this seat as an independent candidate and won, defeating both BJP and Congress,” said Meena.Congress, on the other side, has zeroed in on around three minority candidates, hoping to reclaim the ward with the help of the minority vote bank. More than 40% of voters in this ward are from the minority community.“Meena magic won’t work this time. In 2014, it was an exception. He managed to win because the vote bank of the Congress and the voters of BJP got split. He took advantage of being an independent candidate and won the election by a very low margin. This time, the entire minority vote bank would elect a Congress candidate again,” said Yunus Qureshi, a Congress leader from the Kishanpole area and the former secretary of the party’s minority cell.The state election commission has already started preparations for the bypoll and will announce the date soon.
