New Delhi: The Congress party on Thursday released another list of 31 candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, fielding former MP and son of Jaswant Singh, Manvendra Singh, from his earlier stomping ground of Barmer.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav has also been given a ticket from Jodhpur. Jodhpur is the home turf of the Gehlots and was handpicked by the CM for his son’s poll debut.
The decision was made at a meeting of the Congress's Central Election Committee in the capital on Thursday evening.
According to sources, Ashok Gehlot had smoothed out the path for Vaibhav as he reached out to Rashtriya Loktantrik Party chief Hanuman Beniwal a couple of days ago. The chief minister’s attempts to forge an understanding was seen as brinksmanship as the community has a sizeable presence in Jodhpur.
The ticket from Barmer went to Manvendra Singh over former MP and revenue minister Harish Choudhary. Both Singh and Choudhary had staked claims to the seat, dividing the local cadre into two factions.
“My intention has always been to contest Lok Sabha polls and Barmer has been my priority,” Singh had told News18 two days ago.
Singh, an MP from 2004 to 2009 and later a Legislator from Sheo, left the BJP in September 2018 and joined the Congress ahead of Assembly elections in Rajasthan. He had defected from the BJP citing differences with the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
He had expressed displeasure over the treatment meted out to his father, senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh.
The list of 31 candidates features the names of six candidates from Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh each, apart from 19 nominees from Rajasthan.
Rajasthan will vote in Lok Sabha elections in two phases on April 29 and May 6. While 13 seats will go to polls in phase four on April 29, the rest 12 will vote in phase five on May 6.
The Lok Sabha polls will be completed in seven phases in the country, beginning 11 April and ending on May 19. The vote counting is slated for May 23.
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