Mewar’s erstwhile capital Chittorgarh holds significant historical importance for bravery and valour. Politically, it is considered a stronghold of BJP.
Eight assembly segments falls under Chittorgarh Lok Sabha seat. They include five assembly constituencies of Chittorgarh, Nimbahera, Badi Sadri, Kapasan and Begun from Chittorgarh district, two assembly constituencies of Udaipur district named Vallabhnagar and Mavli and one assembly constituency of Pratapgarh district named Pratapgarh.
In the first general elections held in the country after independence, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (now the Bharatiya Janata Party) won only three seats in the country. Interestingly, one of those three seats was Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh, while the two other seats were from West Bengal.
This time, Rajasthan BJP Chief C.P. Joshi is eyeing his third consecutive victory, while Congress has fielded Udaylal Ajana, a two-time MLA and one-time MP from Chittorgarh in 1998–99.
This seat is considered to have a majority of Brahmins and Rajput voters. For the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP has devised a master plan to secure victory. Leveraging the recent results of the state assembly elections, where attention was paid to balancing caste equations by appointing Chief Minister, Deputy CM, and Assembly Speaker, the BJP could benefit from this seat.
In the 2019 elections, CP Joshi of the BJP secured 982,942 votes, while Congress’s Gopal Singh Shekhawat received 406,695 votes. The NOTA option garnered 17,528 votes.
During the 2014 general elections, the constituency saw a voter turnout of 64.5 percent, with the BJP securing 60 percent and the Congress 33 percent of the vote share. CP Joshi won convincingly with a margin of 316,857 votes against Girija Vyas of the Congress, receiving 703,236 votes compared to Vyas’s 386,379. Chittorgarh has long been a stronghold of BJP, consistently favouring the party in both assembly and parliamentary elections.
Demographically, Chittorgarh constituency is predominantly rural, with approximately 85 percent of its population residing in villages. However, it also has a significant urban population, comprising about 15 percent of the total population. The major communities in this area are Brahmins (approximately 45,000) and Rajputs (approximately 60,000), who wield significant influence over electoral outcomes.
Additionally, Scheduled Castes constitute around 13 percent, Scheduled Tribes around 23.42 percent and around 20,000 Muslim voters.