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Vishvendra Singh gets Congress ticket
| Bhadana, who was expelled by BJP, too gets nomination |
Congress releases fourth list with 19 names
BJP yet to announce candidates for 11 seats
JAIPUR: The Congress has promptly accommodated Vishvendra Singh, scion of the Bharatpur royal family, who had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party and the membership of the Lok Sabha last week, by granting him a ticket from Deeg-Kumher.
The erstwhile royal, who returned to the Congress after two decades, had revolted over the issue of ticket distribution by the BJP in his home terrain, Bharatpur district.
The name of Vishvendra Singh figures in the fourth list of the Congress for the forthcoming elections in Rajasthan scheduled on December 4 and released on Saturday night along with that of Mohanlal Rathore, the candidate against Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in Jhalawar district’s Jhalrapatan. Mr. Rathore had won the seat in 1998.
The fourth list of 19 names leaves the Congress with 190 candidates so far and 10 more names to fill in when the last day for filing nominations is Monday (November17).
On the eve of the deadline, the leaders of both the Congress and the BJP were found busy holding last minute discussions on the remaining seats which have been held up so far due to many reasons including multiplicity of claimants and possible backlash from party workers. The BJP is yet to announce candidates for 11 seats.
While the decision-making process of the Congress was on throughout the day in Delhi, the BJP consultations shifted to the Rajasthan capital, with Chief Minister presiding over a series of meetings, along with State president Omprakash Mathur and other senior functionaries. Indications are that apart from the pending seats the party may reconsider the candidates announced for over a dozen constituencies, including Shahpura, Bassi, Viratnagar, Chaksu, Sapotra, Bundi, Bhilwara, Nagar, Barmer, Jodhpur and Deoli-Uniara.
Other than the Bharatpur royal, the latest Congress list has Attar Singh Bhadana, yet another new entrant to the party from the BJP. Mr. Bhadana, a sitting MLA, was expelled by the BJP during the Gujjar agitation for his open defiance of the party stand. Mr. Bhadana, who had won from Bayana in Bharatpur district in 2003, has been nominated for Nagar seat in the same district. Perhaps to further exploit the prevailing Gujjar sentiments against the ruling party, the Congress has given ticket to another Gujjar leader, Rajendra Singh Bhiduri, in Begun constituency in Chittorgarh district.
The Congress has shifted Shree Gopal Baheti, presently MLA from Pushkar in Ajmer district, to Ajmer North. In his place it has nominated Naseem Aktar, a newcomer for Pushkar. Along with her the list has two Muslims and two women. The second woman candidate is Savitri Saini from Mahuwa, who is being pitted against former Congress MP and BJP nominee, Usha Meena. Ms.Saini is the district president of the party in Dausa. The other Muslim representation is from Sawai Madhopur from where the nominee is Allaudhin Asad.
Among the two office-bearers of the PCCwho have been given tickets is Raghu Sharma (Kekri), in whose selection the Congress party’s norm of not giving tickets to those who had lost three times in the past has been broken.
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