BJP releases second list of candidates for Rajasthan polls; Vasundhara Raje to contest from Jhalrapatan

Jaipur: BJP’s second list of candidates for the Rajasthan Assembly elections, declared today, includes the name of Vasundhara Raje and some of her loyalists indicating that her recommendations have been taken into consideration in the distribution of tickets.  

BJP declared a list of 83 candidates, in addition to the 41 names already announced on Oct 9. 

Raje is going to contest from Jhalarapatan, a constituency from which she has won the last four times. Narpat Singh Rajvi, a senior leader and son of former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who was denied a ticket from Vidhyanagar, his traditional seat, has been accommodated from Chittorgarh. There were protests after his seat was given to erstwhile Jaipur princess Diya Kumari. 

Jhalawar, which is said to be Raje’s stronghold has four Assembly constituencies including Jhalarapatan. They are Dag (SC), where the ticket has gone to Kalu Lal Meghwal. Khanpur has gone to Narendra Nagar and the Manohar Thana seat to Govind Ranipuria. All these Assembly segments also fall under Raje’s son Dushyant Singh’s parliamentary constituency, Jhalwar-Baran.

Political analyst Narayan Bareth says all of these men have the approval of Raje, indicating that Raje has not been totally sidelined as was speculated. “Her wishes seem to have been kept in mind. They are probably looking at the larger picture of 2024 elections, where you need to win the 25 Lok Sabha seats from Rajasthan,” he told DH.

Raje’s other supporters include Pratap Singh Singhvi, who has been given the ticket from Chhabra, an assembly segment in Baran. Chhabra was the constituency from where Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had also contested in the 1977 by poll. 

Raje’s other loyalists include Kalicharan Saraf from Jaipur’s Malviya Nagar, Shrichand Kripalani from Nimbaheda and Anita Bhadel from Ajmer South.

However, Raje loyalist Ashok Lahoti who is a MLA from Sanganer, has been dropped for the time being. His ticket has been given to Bhajan Lal Sharma. Raje’s other supporter Rajpal Singh Shekhawat, who has dropped from Jaipur’s Jhotwara constituency, still has not figured in the second list. 

Other prominent names include leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore from Taranagar, deputy leader of Opposition and former state president Satish Poonia from Amber, former education minister with core RSS background Vasudev Devnani from Ajmer North. 

After the first list, the party has had to face protests from many quarters, as the sitting MLAs and their supporters have been adamant. Protests and black flags have been shown to Jhotwara candidate Rajyavardhan Rathore on his campaign trail after he replaced Rajpal Singh Shekhawat. 

Three-time MP from Jalore, Devi Patel has faced opposition after his candidature was declared from Sanchore. Anita Singh from Nagar in Bharatpur, was denied a ticket and is contemplating to fight as an Independent. Vikas Choudhury from Kishangarh, cried after he was denied a ticket, saying he has worked hard. In Tijara, sitting MLA Maman Singh Yadav is perhaps going to run as an Independent after he was replaced by Balaknath, who is an MP from Alwar.   

“The decision-making of central leadership has raised sparks and rebellion from those who were denied tickets. Many of these decisions are being viewed as just imposed upon from the top. So the second list has come out after lots of deliberations to contain any further protests. They have tried to assuage the feelings of all sections including Raje. Raje’s advice in choosing candidates has been given importance.”

Two new entrants to BJP, Jyothi Mirdha, a Jat who was in Congress earlier and hails from the powerful Congress-inclined political clan Mirdha, has been given a ticket from Nagaur. Jats constitute about 9 per cent of the state electorate. She will face stiff opposition from Hanuman Beniwal, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party. 

Mewar royal family scion Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, who joined BJP last week, has been given the ticket from Nathdwara. 

BJP seems to have a fascination for royals as the Bikaner seat has again gone to former royal and MLA Siddhi Kumari, even after alleged adverse reports of her performance.

“From the second list and its selection of candidates, it looks as if the BJP is now focused more on the Lok Sabha election rather than the Assembly elections in the state. This is just a stepping stone for the final battle in 2024,” says Bareth.