Rajasthan polls: BJP names 83 more candidates, fields ex-CM Vasundhara Raje from Jhalrapatan

Vasundhara Raje. Pic/X@VasundharaBJP

The BJP on Saturday named 83 more candidates for the Rajasthan Assembly polls, including former chief minister Vasundhara Raje from her traditional Jhalrapatan seat.

Fifty incumbent MLAs have been given tickets while nine have not been renominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has also not named any MP in the second list.

Of the 83 candidates, 10 are women.

With this, the BJP has so far named 124 candidates for the November 25 polls to the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly.

Some of the supporters of Raje, including two former state ministers, have also been given tickets.

The saffron party has decided to field Narpat Singh Rajvi from Chittorgarh after its earlier decision to deny the five-term MLA, who is the son-in-law of BJP stalwart Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, renomination from his Vidhyadhar Nagar seat.

This triggered a backlash from a section of party workers.

The BJP leadership's about turn on Rajvi's candidature is being seen as a damage-control exercise after the latter reacted angrily and cited his family legacy to hit out at the party.

The names also include Vishwaraj Singh Mewar, a descendent of Maharana Pratap Singh, who joined the party recently. He has been fielded from Nathdwara, which was won by veteran Congress leader C P Joshi in 2018.

Former state BJP chief Satish Poonia has been fielded from Amber, the seat he currently represents in the Assembly.

Rajendra Rathore, the BJP's leader in the Assembly, has also been given a ticket. However, his constituency has been changed from Churu to Taranagar.

A seven-time MLA, Rathore represented Taranagar in the Assembly for just one term, from 2008 to 2013.

Former Nagaur MP Jyoti Mirdha, who joined the BJP last month, has been fielded from Nagaur.

The incumbent MLAs who have been renominated include Balveer Singh Luthra (Raisinghnagar), Santosh Bawri (Anupgarh), Gurdeep Singh Shahpini (Sangaria), Dharmendra Mochi (Pilibanga), Siddhi Kumari (Bikaner East), Sumit Godara (Lunkaransar), Biharilal Bishnoi (Nokha), Rajendra Rathore (Taranagar), Abhinesh Maharshi (Ratangarh), Ramlal Sharma (Chomu), Nirmal Kumawat (Phulera), Satish Poonia (Amber), Kalicharan Saraf (Malviya Nagar), Manjeet Dharampal Chaudhary (Mundawar), Sanjay Sharma (Alwar City), Kanhaiyalal Chaudhary (Malpura), Suresh Singh Rawat (Pushkar), Vasudev Devnani (Ajmer North), Anita Bhadel (Ajmer South), Ramswaroop Lamba (Nasirabad), Shankar Singh Rawat (Beawar), Avinash Gehlot (Jaitaran), Shobha Chouhan (Sojat), Gyan Chand Parakh (Pali), Pushpendra Singh (Bali) and Joraram Kumawat (Sumerpur).

Other incumbent MLAs to get poll tickets are -- Hammir Singh Bhayal (Siwana), Chhagan Singh Rajpurohit (Ahor), Jogeshwar Garg (Jalore), Samaram Garasia (Pindwara-Abu), Jagsiram Koli (Reodar), Prataplal Gameti (Gogunda), Babulal Kharadi (Jhadol), Phool Singh Meena (Udaipur Rural), Amrit Lal Meena (Salumbar), Gopichand Meena (Aspur), Kailash Chand Meena (Garhi), Surendra Singh Rathore (Kumbhalgarh), Deepti Maheshwari (Rajsamand), Jhabbar Singh Sankhla (Asind), Vitthalshankar Awasthi (Bhilwara), Gopichand Meena (Jahazpur), Gopal Lal Sharma (Mandalgarh), Ashok Dogra (Bundi), Sandeep Sharma (Kota South), Pratap Singh Singhvi (Chhabra), Kalulal (Dag), Vasundhara Raje (Jhalrapatan), Narendra Nagar (Khanpur) and Govind Ranipuria (Manohar Thana).

Incumbent MLAs Subhash Poonia (Surajgarh), Ashok Lahoti (Sanganer), Mohan Ram Chaudhary (Nagaur), Roopa Ram (Makrana), Suryakanta Vyas (Soorsagar), Harendra Ninama (Ghatol), Chandrabhan Singh Akya (Chittorgarh) and Lalit Kumar Ostwal (Bari Sadri) were not given tickets.

Also, Dholpur MLA Shobharani Kushwah, who was expelled from the party for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls last year, was not given a ticket.

Soorsagar MLA Suryakanta Vyas (85) had praised Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot sometime ago for development work, which had invited critical remarks from Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is the MP from Jodhpur.

From Surajgarh, the BJP has fielded former MP Santosh Ahlawat. The 200-member Rajasthan Assembly will go to polls on November 25 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 3.

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