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Cong names candidates for all Rajasthan seats; ends speculation about alliance
The RLP, BAP, and CPI(M) contested this summer’s national polls as part of the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)
The Congress late on Wednesday named candidates for all seven seats going to by-polls on November 13, ending speculation about a possible alliance with the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP).
The RLP, BAP, and Communist Party of India (Marxist) contested this summer’s national polls as part of the Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). The INDIA bloc won 11 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan.
People aware of the matter said the RLP sought the Khinvsar seat, which it has won twice. The BAP demanded Chorasi, Salumber, and Deoli-Uniyara seats.
The BAP announced candidates from two of the three seats on Saturday. BAP Lok Sabha member Rajkumar Roat, who has represented Chorasi in the state assembly, said they were ready to leave Deoli-Uniyara for the Congress if it left Chorasi and Salumber.
State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra on Tuesday indicated the party may contest all seven seats after a meeting. The Congress won four of the seven vacant seats in 2023 while BJP, BAP, and RLP one each.
The nominations triggered rumbling within Congress. Durg Singh Chauhan, who was a ticket aspirant in Khinvsar, called his supporter to his residence while two block presidents resigned in a protest in Salumber.
Jhunjhunu Parliament member Brijendra Ola’s son, Amit Ola, 48, and that of late former assembly member Zubair Khan, Aryaan Khan, 27, are among the nominees. Amit Ola was elected to Jhunjhunu Panchayat Samiti in 2020. His wife, Akansha Ola, is the national secretary of the Congress’s women’s wing.
Brijendra Ola, a former state minister, represented the Jhunjhunu assembly seat since 2008 before he was elected to Lok Sabha this summer. Zubair Khan was a four-time lawmaker.
The other five Congress candidates are Ratan Chaudhary (Khinvsar), Kastoor Chand Meena (Deoli-Uniyara), Deen Dayal Bairwa (Dausa), Reshma Meena (Salumber), and Mahesh Roat (Chorasi).
