Jaipur, March 16: The BJP won all 25 parliamentary seats in the last elections and also registered a victory in the recent assembly polls. But the Congress too has a history of doing well in the state elections, winning alternate polls in the recent decades. An analysis of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT). Lok Sabha Election 2024 Schedule: State-Wise, Constituency-Wise List of Seats and Polling Dates.

Bharatiya Janata Party

Strengths

* Strong organisational network down to the booth level

* PM Narendra Modi's frequent visits to the state give the party the edge over the opposition

Weakness

* Unrest among leaders over denial of the party ticket to MLAs, Churu MP Rahul Kaswan left to join the Congress

Opportunities

* The BJP aims to cash in on the momentum gained by the assembly polls victory just months back

* It hopes to woo young voters after the new state government formed an SIT and made arrests in paper leak cases

* The BJP claims to have made progress on the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project with the state government signing an MoU with the Centre and the Madhya Pradesh government

* The BJP continues to attack the previous Congress government over “appeasement” of minorities

Threat

* A section of farmers in northern Rajasthan has backed protests by Punjab farmers

Congress

Strengths

* Veteran Congress leader Ashok Gehlot's political acumen will come in useful

* Former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot's popularity with the youth and the Gurjar community is an asset

Weaknesses

* A power tussle between Gehlot and Pilot over the past five years has sapped the party's strength

* The party's organisational structure and booth management are not as strong as that of the BJP Opportunities

* The Congress will try to cash in on dissatisfaction in the Gurjar community, which feels it hasn't got the representation it deserved in the state's new BJP government

* Regional parties like Hanuman Beniwal's Rashtriya Loktantrik Party and Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) could tie-up with the Congress

Threats

* The party finds it hard to counter BJP allegations on minority ‘appeasement' and corruption during the last Congress government in the state

* Former minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malvia recently joined the BJP, amid fears that other senior Congress leaders too may change sides.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)