With the announcement of elections in Rajasthan, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list on Monday. The list includes tickets for 41 candidates, with 7 of them being current Members of Parliament. Notably, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, and Deputy Leader of Opposition Satish Poonia are not named in the list. In a surprising move, the BJP has denied a ticket to former minister Rajpal Singh Shekhawat, who is considered close to Vasundhara Raje, from the Jhotwara constituency. Instead, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the current MP from Jaipur Rural, has been nominated for this seat.
Former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s son-in-law and Vidhyadhar Nagar MLA Narpat Singh Rajvi have also been denied tickets by the BJP this time. Deepti Kumari, the Member of Parliament from Sawai Madhopur, has been made a candidate instead.
In the first list, it’s noteworthy that the names of Vasundhara Raje, Rajendra Rathore, and Satish Poonia are absent.
Here are the 41 names included in BJP’s first list
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from Jhotwara, Deepti Kumari from Vidhyadhar Nagar, Chand Mohan Meena from Bassi, Jaydeep Bihani from Ganganagar, Sanjeev Beniwal from Bhadra, Tarachand Saraswat from Doongargarh, Santosh Meghwal from Sujangarh, Bablu Chaudhary from Jhunjhunu, Narendra Kumar from Mandawa, Vikram Singh Jakhar from Nawalgarh, Shubhkaran Choudhary from Udaipurwati, Shravan Choudhary from Fatehpur, Subhash Mahariya from Laxmangarh, Gajanand Kumawat from Dantaramgarh, Hansraj Patel Gurjar from Kotputli, Premchand Bairwa from Doodu, Baba Balkanath from Tijara, Devi Singh Shekhawat from Banasur, Jayram Jatav from Alwar Gramin, Jawahar Singh Bedam from Nagar, Bahadur Singh Koli from Baer, Rajkumari Jatav from Hindon, Hansraj Meena from Sapotra, Bhagchand Dakara from Bandidkui, Rambilas Meena from Lalsot, Rajendra Meena from Bamanwas, Dr Kirori Lal Meena from Sawai Madhopur, Vijay Bansala from Deoli Uniara, Bhagirath Choudhary from Kishangarh, Shatrughan Gautam from Kekri, Arjun Lal Garg from Bilara, Balaram Moond from Baytu, Devji Patel from Sanchore, Nanalal Ahari from Kherwada, Bansilal Katara from Dungarpur, Shankar Decha from Sagwada, Sushil Katara from Chorasi, Krishna Katara from Bagidaura, Bhima Bhai Damor from Kushalgarh, Udaylal Bhadana from Mandal, and Ladu Lal Pipaliya from Sahada.
BJP replaced candidates on 29 seats:
Out of the 41 constituencies, BJP has fielded new candidates on 29 assembly seats. These include Ganganagar, Shri Doongargarh, Sujangarh, Jhunjhunu, Nawalgarh, Fatehpur, Laxmangarh, Dantaramgarh, Kotputli, Jhotwara, Vidhyadhar Nagar, Bassi, Tijara, Banasur, Nagar, Baer, Hindon, Sapotra, Bandidkui, Sawai Madhopur, Deoli Uniara, Kishangarh, Kekri, Baytu, Sanchore, Kherwada, Dungarpur, and Bagidaura.
Ticket denied to three-time losers on 11 seats
The first list includes 11 seats where BJP has faced consecutive defeats in the last three elections. These constituencies are Dantaramgarh (Sikar), Kotputli, Jhunjhunu, Sanchore, Fatehpur (Sikar), Laxmangarh (Sikar), Nawalgarh (Jhunjhunu), Lalsot (Dausa), Sapotra (Karauli), Bagidaura (Banswara), and Bassi
(Jaipur).