Rajasthan polls: Releasing its final list, Congress retains one, snubs two Gehlot loyalists for last year's rebellion

The Congress on Sunday night ended the suspense over Ashok Gehlot loyalist and minister Shanti Dhariwal’s candidature in Rajasthan elections by renominating him from his sitting seat, as the party released its seventh and final list of candidates. While Dhariwal will fight re-election from Kota-North, fellow party leaders Mahesh Joshi and Dharmendra Rathore have been given the boot for last year's rebellion.

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday night ended the suspense over Ashok Gehlot loyalist and minister Shanti Dhariwal’s candidature in Rajasthan elections by renominating him from his sitting seat, as the party released its seventh and final list of candidates.

The final list saw 21 candidates with the party dropping seven MLAs while retaining four, including Dhariwal, who was under the radar for spearheading the rebellion that prevented a Legislature Party meeting that could have set the stage for Sachin Pilot becoming Chief Minister last year.

Dhariwal will fight re-election from Kota-North but his colleague Mahesh Joshi was not lucky enough, as the leadership cracked the whip and denied him his seat Hawa Mahal.

Dhariwal, Joshi and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Chairman Dharmendra Rathore were showcaused by the leadership for the rebellion. Rathore was seeking ticket from Ajmer North constituency but has been denied seat.

With the seventh list, Congress has named 199 candidates, including 28 women, for 200 seats. It had left the Bharatpur seat for RLD. Among the Congress candidates, 109 are sitting MLAs, including independents who joined Congress ahead of elections while 19 have been dropped.

It almost took 15 days for the party to release seven lists even as its negotiations with CPI(M), which has two sitting MLAs, and CPI fell through.

Sources said the party had conducted surveys in constituencies to check winnability but Gehlot had argued for retaining the maximum number of sitting MLAs. Gehlot’s bete noir Sachin Pilot also did not object, as Gehlot reciprocated by not seeking axing of MLAs supporting Pilot who attempted to topple the government in 2020.

Over 50 candidates are new faces while the party also fielded around half-a-dozen district presidents.

The electoral battle will not be an easy one for the Congress, as Rajasthan never re-elected an incumbent government. Some of the opinion polls also have not given Congress a second term but Gehlot is confident of bucking the trend and returning to power.