‘Jitendra Singh to get bigger role in Cong’

AICC president Rahul Gandhi will give bigger role to former MP Jitendra Singh, who was not fielded for Alwar Lok Sabha by-election, in the party’s central affairs, Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot said in Delhi

AICC president Rahul Gandhi will give bigger role to former MP Jitendra Singh, who was not fielded for Alwar Lok Sabha by-election, in the party’s central affairs, Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot has said in Delhi.

Bhanwar Jitendra Singh (HT Photo)

The nomination of Karan Singh Yadav as the Congress candidate for the Alwar by-election surprised many, including local party leaders, who said Jitendra Singh would have been a better choice.

Bypolls to Alwar and Ajmer parliamentary seats in Rajasthan have been necessitated after the death of BJP MPs Mahant Chandnath and Sanwar Lal Jat.

District Congress committee vice-president Jagdish Beniwal said, “People still remember Jitendra Singh for the development works he had done for the district, and his name fills people with new hope.”

Singh was elected from the Alwar constituency in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls; before that, he was a two-time MLA from Alwar city. Yadav, a cardiac surgeon, had been an MLA from Behror assembly seat and an MP from Alwar.

Professor Jugmandir Tayal said the Congress decision to declare the candidate was a bit hasty. “The dates for bypolls are not yet announced and they have named their candidate. Now the BJP can make its strategy and it will benefit from the absence of Jitendra Singh.”

Shweta Saini, district general secretary of the Congress women’s cell, said Jitendra Singh has a “great network of workers and well wishers” in Alwar. “Congress workers are disappointed over Jitendra Singh not fighting elections.”