The Opposition BJP declared the names of 83 candidates in its second list, while fielding former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje from her traditional seat, Jhalrapatan, for the Rajasthan Assembly election to be held on November 25.
The BJP’s list of 83 nominees took the total number of the party’s candidates declared so far to 124. Unlike the first list released on October 9, in which seven MPs were fielded, the second list did not contain the names of any Parliamentarians.
The BJP has fielded several loyalists of Ms. Raje in a balancing act after the first list having sidelined them. While Ms. Raje will contest from Jhalrapatan, which she has been winning since 2003, her supporter and former Minister Narpat Singh Rajvi, who was dropped from his Vidyadhar Nagar seat in Jaipur, was given a ticket from Chittorgarh.
Mr. Rajvi, the son-in-law of former Vice President and BJP stalwart, the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, had expressed displeasure over his replacement by Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari. He had earlier won the Chittorgarh twice, in 1993 and 2003.
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Other loyalists of Ms. Raje fielded as the party candidates included Kalicharan Saraf (Malviya Nagar, Jaipur), Pratap Singh Singhvi (Chhabra), Vasudev Devnani (Ajmer North), Anita Bhadel (Ajmer South), Otaram Dewasi (Sirohi), Srichand Kriplani (Nimbahera), Siddhi Kumari (Bikaner East), Hem Singh Bhadana (Thanagazi), and Ramswaroop Lamba (Nasirabad).
Former MP Jyoti Mirdha, hailing from the family of veteran Jat leader Nathuram Mirdha, has been nominated from Jat-dominated Nagaur constituency. Ms. Mirdha had, in September, left the Congress to join the BJP. Vishwaraj Singh Mewar, a descendent of legendary Rajput ruler Maharana Pratap, who also joined the BJP recently, will contest the polls from Nathdwara.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and sitting MLA from Churu, Rajendra Rathore, has been shifted to the nearby Taranagar seat, where he had earlier won from. Deputy Leader of Opposition and former BJP State president Satish Poonia has been fielded again from Amber, near Jaipur.
