Shekhawat rallies for BJP in Jodhpur's Luni ahead of local polls
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
A Union minister took to the village square on Sunday, 25 October 2026 — and the message was unmistakably grassroots. Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat addressed an election rally at Sarencha village in the Luni Vidhan Sabha constituency of Jodhpur district, campaigning for Bharatiya Janata Party candidates contesting the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections.
Shekhawat appealed to voters to back Tribhuvan Singh Bhati, the BJP candidate from Zila Parishad Ward No. 18, along with all Panchayat Samiti BJP nominees in the area. Posting on X, he wrote: 'ग्रामीणजन भाजपा के जनसेवा के प्रति समर्पण एवं निस्वार्थ भाव को भलीभाँति समझते हैं' — 'The rural people understand very well the BJP's dedication and selfless spirit of public service.' He expressed full confidence that the party would receive overwhelming support in the villages.
Senior BJP figures converge on Sarencha
The rally was not a solo act. Rajasthan Cabinet Minister Jogaram Patel, Animal Welfare Board Chairman Jaswant Singh Bishnoi, and Kisan Morcha National Secretary Shelaram Saran joined Shekhawat on stage, signalling the weight the party is placing on local-body contests in this pocket of western Rajasthan. The combined presence of a Union minister, a state cabinet minister, and a national farmer-wing functionary underscores the BJP's intent to convert its state-level momentum into ward-level wins.
Why Luni and Jodhpur matter for the BJP
Jodhpur is Shekhawat's own Lok Sabha constituency, making every booth here a matter of personal political capital. Luni, a semi-rural assembly segment on Jodhpur's periphery, is home to a large farming population — precisely the demographic the BJP's Kisan Morcha is designed to reach. Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections are often seen as the party's earliest stress-test of rural sentiment between state assembly cycles, and results here ripple into the political calculus well ahead of the next Rajasthan assembly election.
For Shekhawat, who holds a national portfolio, the Sarencha rally is a reminder that Union ministers from Rajasthan are expected to anchor the party's ground game at every tier — from Parliament down to Ward No. 18.
The outcome of these Jodhpur-district local-body polls will be watched closely as a gauge of BJP's rural standing in western Rajasthan.