Many Congress, BJP bigwigs bite the dust in Rajasthan

Jaipur, Dec 3 (IANS) Springing major surprise, many big names in the BJP and Congress have fallen flat in the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, the results of which were declared on Sunday.

These include former state BJP chief Satish Poonia, BJP's leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore, Congress leader and Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi and several state ministers.

Sitting MLA Poonia lost the elections from Amer against Congress' Prashant Sharma by 9092 votes.

Similarly, despite staying ahead through out the day, Congress strongman R.R. Tiwari lost from Hawa Mahal against BJP's Balmukund Acharya by a wafer-thin margin of 974 votes.

BJP's leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore lost against Congress' Narendra Budania from Taranagar by over 8,000 votes.

State minister and Congress leader B.D. Kalla also lost the polls from Bikaner West against BJP's Jethanand Vyas by a margin of over 20,000 votes.

Speaker C.P. Joshi lost from Nathdwara against BJP's Vishwaraj Singh Mewar, a member of the erstwhile Mewar royal family, by 7504 votes.

Another state minister, Pratap Khachriyawas went down to BJP’ Gopal Sharma by a big margin of 28,329 votes.