The Kota Lok Sabha seat in Rajasthan is seeing a high-profile electoral contest during the 2018 Lok Sabha elections. The race expected to be close and fierce, given the substantial presence of both the BJP and the Congress in the region.

Mr Birla has represented the Kota Lok Sabha seat since 2014 and is running for re-election. The Congress has chosen Prahlad Gunjal, a Gujjar strongman and former BJP member who just joined the Congress, to face him.

The Kota Lok Sabha constituency has eight Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) segments, including Keshoraipatan, Bundi, Pipalda, Sangod, Kota, North Kota, South Kota, Ladpura, Ramganj, and Mandi. The constituency has a long political history, with both the Congress and the BJP winning the seat several times.

In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Mr Birla beat his Congress opponents by large percentages. Before the BJP took control of the Kota seat in 2014, it was considered a Congress bastion. Omkarlal Berwa held the seat for the longest time, four terms. Over the years, the Congress, BJP, Bharatiya Jana Sangh, and Janata Party have alternated as the constituency’s parties.