Rajasthan Assembly Election 2028

What this countdown tracks

The election to the 200-seat Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha, expected by late November 2028 on the five-year cycle from the 25 November 2023 polling. Some 53 million eligible voters in India's largest state by area elect their MLAs and, indirectly, the Chief Minister in Jaipur — historically a state that has alternated between BJP and Congress every five years since 1993.

About this election

The 2023 vote returned the BJP to power with 115 of 199 seats on a 41.7 percent vote share, ending Ashok Gehlot's third Congress term. Bhajanlal Sharma — a relative newcomer and OBC face from the Sanganer constituency — was sworn in as Chief Minister on 15 December 2023, with deputy CMs Diya Kumari and Premchand Bairwa, in a generational change from the Vasundhara Raje era.

Rajasthan's politics remain structured by the BJP–Congress bipolar contest that has alternated every term for three decades. The Old Pension Scheme question, the post-Manesar Mewat communal tensions in the Bharatpur-Alwar belt, the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) negotiations with Madhya Pradesh, and the Jat-Rajput-Meena-OBC caste arithmetic remain the structural axes. The 2024 Lok Sabha vote produced a BJP-NDA 14-of-25 result that was weaker than the previous two clean sweeps.

Key issues

The 2028 campaign will weigh the Sharma government's record on the ERCP project rebranded as PKC-ERCP, the financial sustainability of welfare schemes following the BJP's matching of Congress promises, water security and the Indira Gandhi Canal modernisation, mining and the Bhilwara industrial corridor, and the perennial Rajasthan question of whether the alternation pattern will hold or finally break.

Past results

• 2023 (25 Nov): BJP 115 seats (41.7%), Congress 69 (39.5%), BSP 2, RLP 1, BAP 3 — Bhajanlal Sharma sworn in as CM.
• 2018: Congress 100, BJP 73, BSP 6, RLP 3 — Ashok Gehlot's third term.
• 2013: BJP 163, Congress 21, NPP 4 — Vasundhara Raje's second term.
• 2008: Congress 96, BJP 78, BSP 6 — Ashok Gehlot second term.
• 2003: BJP 120, Congress 56 — Vasundhara Raje's first term.

How to follow

The Election Commission of India and the Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer publish results at results.eci.gov.in and ceorajasthan.nic.in. ABP News, Zee Rajasthan, ETV Rajasthan and Sahara Samay run Hindi coverage; Rajasthan Patrika, Dainik Bhaskar and The Indian Express anchor print coverage. Polls open 07:00 to 18:00 IST.

Related countdowns

Rajasthan's 2028 vote runs in the late-2028 Indian state cluster with the Madhya Pradesh assembly election, Chhattisgarh assembly election and Telangana assembly election. For neighbouring-state context see the Gujarat assembly election and Punjab assembly election.

FAQ

When is the Rajasthan 2028 election? Expected late November 2028 on the five-year cycle from the 25 November 2023 vote. Who is running? BJP under Bhajanlal Sharma defending; Congress under Govind Singh Dotasra and likely Sachin Pilot or Ashok Gehlot leadership; smaller players include the BAP, RLP and BSP. Why does this election matter beyond India? Rajasthan controls a major share of India's solar capacity, lithium reserves discovered in 2023, and the western desert border with Pakistan — its government's policies have national-security and energy-transition stakes. Will the alternation pattern hold? The 1993–2023 record of every-five-year alternation has held seven cycles in a row; whether the BJP can break it in 2028 is the central political question.