List of probables on social media, Cong calls it fake

JAIPUR:Rajasthan There is no such list prepared by AICC. What is being circulated is totally fake. Such move is to create confusion, it’s an act of mischief.

AVINASH PANDE, AICC gen secy and state party in-charge

Congress president Sachin Pilot may contest from Nagar (Bharatpur) or Nasirabad (Ajmer), if a report doing the rounds on the social media is to be believed.

The list names party probable candidates on 78 seats.

However, the Congress called the list fake. “There is no such list prepared by AICC. What is being circulated is totally false and fake. No survey list has been prepared at AICC. Such move has been done intentionally to create confusion, it’s an act of mischief,” said Avinash Pande, AICC general secretary and state party in-charge.

The filename mentioned on the list says “INC/Incharge G.S. (AICC)/Rajasthan/Assembly Election 2018”, making it look real but the Congress has washed its hands of it.

Assembly elections are due in Rajasthan later this year. The Congress is upbeat after victory in three by-elections – Ajmer and Alwar parliamentary Lok Sabha and Mandalgarh assembly seats – and the list of 78 candidates shows the party wants to be ahead of its rival, the BJP, in announcing candidates.

Congress vice president Archana Sharma, whose name also appears in the list, said she was unaware of it.

The bottom of the survey page mentions reference of AICC, Rajasthan and assembly election 2018.

“I am not aware of any such list but holding a survey before election is a routine exercise by any political party. Such surveys are done a number of times at various levels by party organisations,” said a senior party leader on anonymity.

The list mentions probability of Pilot’s candidature from Nagar or Nasirabad assembly seat, which could be his debut as MLA.

In 2013, the party had fielded Brijendra Supa from Nagar and Mahendra Singh from Nasirabad. Pilot had been a member of parliament from Dausa (2004) and Ajmer (2009).

The party in the recent Ajmer bypolls fielded Raghu Sharma.

On comparing the names of the party candidates who contested in last assembly polls with the list leaked, over 20 candidates are either changed or given different seats to contest.

The list suggests change of assembly seat for ex-state party chief Dr Chandrabhan, who lost last election from Mandawa (Sikar) to Malpura; Girija Vyas from Udaipur, ex-MP Ashq Ali Tak from Fatehpur and Bhanwar Jitendra Singh from Alwar City, Babu Lal Nagar from Dudu, and Rajkumar Sharma from Nawalgarh.

In Jaipur, the list suggests change of seat of district president Pratap Singh Khachariyawas from Civil Lines to Vidhyadhar Nagar, ex-MP Mahesh Joshi from Civil Lines, and Lalchand Kataria from Jhotwara.