In 6th list, Congress names ex-BJP MLA to take on LS Speaker
Prahlad Gunjal is a close aide of former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje; his candidature is expected to help Congress’s fortunes in Hadoti region
Former BJP MLA Prahlad Gunjal, who recently joined the Congress, will take on outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in Rajasthan’s Kota Lok Sabha seat, as the grand old party announced its sixth list of candidates on Monday.
With five names in the fresh list, the Congress has so far announced a total of 190 candidates.
The party also fielded Ramchandra Choudhary from Ajmer, Sudarshan Rawat from Rajsamand, and Damodar Gurjar from Bhilwara.
Leg-up for party
Mr. Gunjal, who joined the Congress last Thursday in the presence of former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, was the MLA from Kota North twice but had lost the last Assembly polls.
A close aide of former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, his presence in the Congress is expected to benefit the party in the Hadoti region that includes districts like Bundi, Baran, Jhalawar and Kota.
The 25 Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan will go to the polls in two phases — voting for 12 seats will be held in the first phase on April 19, while 13 seats will go to the polls on April 26.
The party has gone all out to break its record of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, in which it failed to win a single seat.
In the Tirunelveli seat of Tamil Nadu, C. Robert Bruce has been fielded by the Congress.
The party also announced that Tharahai Cuthbert will contest the byelection from Vilavancode Assembly constituency in the State.
Tamil Nadu will vote on April 19 for all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the State.