Ex-Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore trails behind Congress candidate Abhishek Choudhary

Vote counting for the November 25 assembly elections in Rajasthan started at 8 am on Sunday under stringent security measures.

Choudhary is currently in the lead with a margin of 9,000 votes in Jhotwara, a suburban area located in the north-west of Jaipur, reported India Today.

It’s worth noting that Jhotwara is a general seat and is not reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) or Scheduled Tribes (STs).

Rajasthan has exhibited a pattern of alternating governments every five years, a trend observed since 1993.

The Congress party is working to maintain its hold on power in the face of a resurgent BJP.

Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Dr Ashok Kumar Sharma, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party's (RLP) Jeewanram Jat, Right to Recall Party's (RRP) Aditya Prakash Sharma, Indian Peoples Green Party's (IPGP) Yogi Jeetendra Nath, Jannayak Janta Party's (JJP) Deen Dayal Jakhar, Rashtriya Janata Sena's (RJS) Naveen Kumar Sharma, Rashtriya Sawarn Dal's (RSD) Beni Prasad Kaushik and Independent candidates Arjun Lal Kumawat, Anand Kumar Saini, Ashu Singh Surpura, Praveen Kumar Sharma, Prasanna Maheshwari, Bhuvnesh Kumar Goyal, Rajesh Kumar Yadav, Surgyan Singh Ghoslya and Hari Kishan Tiwari are also fighting to represent the Jhotwara constituency in the state assembly.

In 2018 Assembly election, Jhotwara assembly constituency was wrested by Congress candidate Lalchand Kataria from BJP’s Rajpal Singh Shekhawat by a margin of 10,747 votes.