Rajasthan Assembly polls: Fresh, young faces in Congress list raise hopes amongst workers

Jaipur: Congress has given chance to at least 25 new faces in the lists that were released yesterday, giving hope to ground workers, say poll analysts.

INC released the names of 61 candidates in its fourth and fifth list taking the total number to 156 out of the 200 Assembly seats.

Among the 25 new people who found a place in the list, most have been holding some post in the district Congress committees and have years of experience working in their regions. Also, most of them fall in the age bracket of mid-40s.

However, the oldest among the new faces is a retired PWD additional engineer, Mangilal Meena at 63. He will be contesting from ST reserved seat, Rajgarh-Laxmangarh.

The youngest is a 25-year-old law graduate Sanjana Jatav from Kathumar, who is a Congress Zilla Parishad member and is an active worker in the region. Congress has given the ticket to a woman for the first time in Kathumar. She is likely to garner the traditional Jatav votes of the constituency.

Other young leaders Shivprakash from Nasirabad and Imran Khan from Tijara are 26-year-olds. Shivprakash, a graduate, has held several positions in the Youth Congress and has a sound hold over local politics.

Imran Khan from Tijara has crossed over from Bahujan Samaj Party, and is a civil engineer. He would be fighting against high profile BJP's Alwar MP, Baba Balaknath and would be pursuing the Meo votes in the region.

There are others like Lilaram Garasia, 40, from Pindwara-Abu Road, Draupadi Koli, 55, from Ajmer South, Nemichand Meena, 32, from Manoharthana, Anita Jatav, 33 from Hindon, Ramila Meghwal, 33, Ankur Maglani, 44 from Sriganagnagar, Badri Jat, 41 from Badi Sadri, Bhanuparat Singh, 43 from Sangod, Sanjay Kumar Jatav, 35 from Baseri all have been Congress members or sarpanch of Congress Zilla Parishads, Youth Congress. or NSUI.

“These two lists seem balanced and give hope to young people who want to join politics. They have given importance to field workers, who have come up all the way to the top through sheer hard work,” Narayan Bareth, poll analyst, told Deccan Herald.

One prominent face is that of Gourav Vallabh, 45, from Udaipur, a urban constituency. Gourav is also the national spokesperson of Congress. Originally from Pipar in Jodhpur, he would be fighting the electoral battle for the first time.

An academician, he was professor of Finance at Jamshedpur’s XLRI Management Institute and has a doctorate in credit risk management. He joined the Congress in 2017 and is an eloquent panelist. He would be up against BJP’s Tarachand Jain, who is a close confidant of BJP senior leader and Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria.

The list also has Vikas Choudhary, 36, who joined Congress recently after BJP denied him a ticket from Kishangarh. A doctorate, Choudhary had broken down emotionally after the refusal and vowed to contest as Independent before he turned to Congress. He will be fighting against BJP’s Bhagirath Choudhary now.

Congress has also pinned hope on six new women candidates namely Draupadi Koli from Ajmer South, Ramila Meghwal Jalore, Sanjana Jatav from Kathumar, Geeta Barwar from Bhopalgarh, and Anita Jatav from Hindon. Meanwhile, Shimla Nayak has been nominated from SC-dominated Anupgarh, where Congress has given ticket to a woman for the first time.

However, Bareth also cautions that many non-political entities like godmen, bureaucrats, businessmen - who have not been in public life before - have been accommodated in the lists so far.

“Many political grassroots workers have been sidelined in the process. It is a dangerous trend for democracy. Grassroots workers become disillusioned this way. They have sensitivity, a vision, they pursue issue-based politics and are accountable to the people. But the paratroopers are many times inaccessible,” he said.