BJP names minister for Alwar bypoll, late MP’s son for Ajmer
CONG TOO NAMES MEN Raghu Sharma for Ajmer, Vivek Dhakad for Mandalgarh bypolls JAIPUR:
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday declared its candidates for the Rajasthan by-elections and all the three names were on expected lines.
State labour minister Jaswant Singh Yadav is the candidate for Alwar Lok Sabha seat and Ramswaroop Lamba, son of late MP Sanwar Lal Jat, is the candidate for Ajmer Lok Sabha seat.
Former zila pramukh Shakti Singh Hada will contest from the Mandalgarh assembly seat.
The names were announced by BJP’s central election committee secretary JP Nadda. Yadav has already been campaigning for the past few days.
The Congress too announced its candidates — Raghu Sharma for Ajmer LS bypoll, and Vivek Dhakad for Mandalgarh assembly bypoll.
The Congress has announced former MP Karan Singh Yadav, a cardiac surgeon, as its candidate for the Alwar Lok Sabha seat.
By-elections to the two Lok Sabha and one assembly seats in Rajasthan will be held on January 29.
The counting will take place on February 1.
Thelastdateoffilingthenomination is January 10, scrutiny of the nomination papers will be done on January 11 and the last date for withdrawal of names is January 15.
The bypolls were necessitated following the demise of two sitting BJP MPs – Sanwar Lal Jat (Ajmer) and Mahant Chandnath (Alwar) and the sitting BJP MLA Kirti Kumari in Mandalgarh.
In the last general elections, Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot was defeated by Jat on the Ajmer seat. On Sunday, Pilot said the party win all three seats.
The Rajasthan BJP had sent a list of three candidates to the party’s parliamentary board for short-listing a candidate on each seat.
Political analysts said that bypolls to the three seats will be a referendum on the performance of ruling BJP, a year ahead of the state assembly elections.
The opposition will try to exploit issues such as the Goods and Service Tax, incidents of lynching and cow vigilantism, killing of gangster Anandpal and the farmers’ demand for a loan waiver.