No ticket for 3 ministers, 11 MLAS

JAIPUR: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dropped three ministers and 11 legislators in the second list of 31 candidates announced on Wednesday. The party gave tickets to senior ministers Kalicharan Saraf and Rajpal Singh Shekhawat. With this, the BJP has announced candidates for 162 of the 200 assembly seats. In all, 40 legislators including five ministers have not been given tickets to contest the upcoming assembly elections.

Ministers Rajkumar Rinwa, Babulal Verma, and Dhan Singh Rawat did not find their names in the second list. Suspense continues over the Public Works department minister Yunus Khan, whose name does not figure in this list.

“This list too bears chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s stamp. She was strongly backing Saraf and Shekhawat and they have been accommodated in the second list,” said political analyst Narayan Bareth.

While Saraf was renominated from Malviya Nagar constituency, Shekhawat will contest again from Jhotwara. Four former Congress leaders also — Abhinesh Maharishi, Gurdip Sahapini, Ashok Sharma and Mahesh Pratap Singh — also got BJP tickets. Maharishi, who had joined the BJP on Monday was given ticket in place of Rinwa, the MLA from Ratangarh.

Among the legislators dropped was Gyan Dev Ahuja from Ramgarh in Alwar district, where Rakbar Khan was allegedly beaten to death by cow protectors earlier this year. Ahuja had also backed the accused in the murder of cow trader Pehlu Khan in Alwar in April 2017.

Other legislators who were dropped include Rajkumari Jatav from Hindaun City, Jeetmal Khant from Garhi, Laxminarayan Bairwa from Chaksu, and Rani Silautia from Basedi. Political stalwart Kishna Ram Nai from Sri Dungargarh was replaced by Tarachand Saraswat. Pratap Puri, a Rajput leader was brought in from Pokaran to mitigate the damage of Manvendra Singh’s exit last month from the BJP. Khaman Singh, a new face, was given the ticket from Sheo, Singh’s earlier seat. “No matter how many tickets they deny to sitting ministers or MLAS, they cannot hide their sins. People do not want to defeat MLA or ministers but CM Vasundhara Raje and BJP,” said Congress spokesperson Pratap Singh Khachariyawas.

The Congress is likely to announced its first list of candidates for Rajasthan on Thursday.