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Raj polls: Cong releases 1st list; fields Gehlot from Sardarpura, Pilot from Tonk
The Congress has given tickets to five ministers, 28 sitting MLAs and an independent candidate– Ramila Khadia, who won the 2018 Rajasthan assembly elections (ST)
The Congress on Saturday released its first list of 33 candidates for the Rajasthan assembly elections, fielding chief minister Ashok Gehlot from Sardarpura and his former deputy Sachin Pilot from Tonk.
Assembly speaker CP Joshi has been fielded from Nathdwara (Udaipur), and state party chief Govind Singh Dotasara from Lachhmangarh (Sikar).
The Congress has given tickets to five ministers, 28 sitting MLAs and an independent candidate– Ramila Khadia, who won the 2018 Rajasthan assembly elections (ST).
Three leaders who rebelled against Gehlot during the political crisis in July 2020 have also made it to the list. Indraj Singh Gurjar has been fielded from Virat Nagar, Mukesh Bhakhar from Ladnun, and Ramniwas Gawariya from Parbatsar.
The party has also fielded Archana Sharma from Malviya Nagar, Pushpendra Bharadwaj from Sanganer, and Vivek Dhakad from Mandalgarh – they had lost the 2018 elections.
Lalit Kumar Yadav, who contested the last election on a Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) from Mundawar in Alwar, has been given the ticket. In 2018, Yadav lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Manjeet Dharampal.
The Congress has given tickets to nine women candidates– Krishna Poonia, Rita Choudhary, Mamta Bhupesh, Archana Sharma, Manju Devi, Divya Maderna, Manisha Panwar, Preeti Gajendra Singh, and Ramila Khadia.
A senior congress leader commenting on the list said the first list indicates that youth, new faces and women will get a chance. Of the total names, 26 candidates (about 80%) are below 50 years of age, out of which 16 are below 45.
He continued Yadav is the new face while Muslim candidate Danish Abrar also got a chance. “The combination of Brahmin, Rajput, Jat and Gujjar remained intact,” he added.
Commenting on it, political analyst Manish Godha said all names in the list were on the expected line and the Congress was wise enough after seeing chaos in BJP when their first list came. The list has names from all regions and mostly the MLAs are repeated.
BJP spokesperson Ram Lal Sharma said the names announced are controversial and people have already rejected them. The list also conveys that Congress has no new face to fight BJP.
