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BJP may gamble with ‘outsiders’ in Rajasthan seats
The tussle over tickets among BJP stalwarts may repeat in Rajasthan too as the party might adjust some 'outsiders' in two to three Lok Sabha seats here.
The tussle over tickets among Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwarts may repeat in Rajasthan too as the party might adjust some outsiders in two to three Lok Sabha seats here.
Senior party leaders Murli Manohar Joshi and Lal Krishan Advani are sticking to their guns about contesting from Varanasi and Gandhinagar seats respectively. But, the party wants one of these seats for its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. In this respect, there are chances that some of the national leaders might find their way to the lower house from the state.
While a number of state leaders are vying for ticket from Jaipur and Jaipur rural seats, there are chances that some parachute candidate is adjusted on one of these seats. Two other seats from where an outside candidate could be adjusted are Jodhpur and Jhunjhunu, hinted a senior party leader seeking anonymity.
The names of senior party leaders LK Advani and Arun Jaitley are doing the rounds for Jaipur and Jaipur rural seats, there are prospects of former Army chief VK Singh being fielded on the party ticket from either Jodhpur or Jhunjhunu.
A number of state leaders, including Ghanshyam Tiwari, Rao Rajendra Singh, Digambar Singh, Satish Poonia, Ram Charan Bohra, and Suman Sharma are also expecting ticket from Jaipur and Jaipur rural.
Advani claims long association with Rajasthan as he started his political career from Alwar. Jaitley, on the other hand, is considered close to chief minister Vasundhara Raje and one of his close confidants Bhupendra Yadav is playing pivotal role in party affairs in the state.
Earlier, there were speculations of Singh contesting from Jhunjhunu but keeping in mind the Jat dominance in the area there are chances of Singh getting ticket from Jodhpur. The party leadership has however kept the cards closed. “The party high command will have the final say in this regard” said party general secretary Satish Poonia.
