The Congress on Thursday announced its third list, comprising 19 candidates, for the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly election. Tickets were given to one Minister and 11 sitting MLAs, including three Independents who had supported the Ashok Gehlot government during the political crisis in 2020.
The State’s ruling party also fielded two MLAs who had won the 2018 Assembly polls on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket and later joined the Congress along with four of their fellow legislators. The two legislators are Wajib Ali, who will contest from Bharaput district’s Nagar seat, and Lakhan Singh Meena, fielded from Karauli.
Rajasthan Rural Development Minister Ramesh Chand Meena, considered a loyalist of former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, has been fielded from his constituency of Sapotra in Karauli disrict, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
The three independent MLAs given the Congress ticket are Ramkesh Meena, C.L. Premi Bairwa, and Pusaram Godara, who were fielded from Gangapur, Keshoraipatan, and Ratangarh respectively. After this third list’s release, the party has declared candidates for 95 seats in the 200-member Assembly.
Switching parties
Dholpur MLA Shobha Rani Kushwah, expelled from the BJP for cross-voting in favour of the Congress candidate in last year’s Rajya Sabha election, has now been given the Congress ticket from the same seat. She was inducted into the Congress at an election rally addressed by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Jhunjhunu on Wednesday.
Former MP Narendra Budania will challenge BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore at Taranagar; in Deoli-Uniara, sitting MLA and former Director-General of Police Harish Chandra Meena will be locked in a contest with the BJP’s Vijay Bainsla, a Gujjar leader spearheading the movement for reservations
Mr. Harish Chandra Meena and Gajraj Khatana, repeated from his Bandikui seat, are also known as Mr. Pilot’s loyalists. Among the others, Rajendra Pareek has been fielded from Sikar, Sharwan Kumar from Surajgarh, Ganga Devi Verma from Bagru, Rajendra Trivedi from Sahara, and Panachand Meghwal from Baran-Atru.
