Jaipur:

Protests by disgruntled BJP leaders and their supporters over denial of party ticket for the Rajasthan assembly polls erupted on Monday in several districts of the state.

After the party released its second list of candidates last week, dissident leaders and their supporters held protests in Rajsamand, Sriganganagar, Udaipur, and Bikaner.

Similar protests were witnessed on Sunday too in districts such as Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Kota, Jaipur, Alwar, and Bundi, apart from Rajsamand.

On Monday, local leaders protested against BJP candidate Surendra Singh Rathore from Kumbhalgarh seat in Rajsamand district. Ticket claimants have given an ultimatum to the party’s high command to reconsider its decision and said they will contest as independent candidates if their demand is not met.

“There is resentment among the party workers. Those who took the decision did not even know the situation on the ground,” former Zila Parishad member Nathulal Gurjar said.  

Praveen Mewada, Sardargarh sarpanch of Rajsamand, said it was better to give a ticket to an outsider.

“But Surendra Singh should not have been given the ticket. People are not happy with him. We are holding a discussion with workers,” Mr Mewada said.

In Sriganganagar, former BJP candidate Vinita Ahuja indicated that she would contest the election as an Independent candidate after the party gave its ticket to Jaideep Bihani.  
Local leaders and supporters of Ms Ahuja held a press conference to declare her as their leader in the upcoming assembly polls.  

“The community has decided unanimously to field Vinita Ahuja as an Independent candidate,” community leader Virendra Rajpal said in Sriganganagar.

In Udaipur, Deputy Mayor Paras Singhvi, who is demanding a BJP ticket from Udaipur City seat, took out a rally from the Town Hall on Monday. His supporters raised slogans “Tara Manzoor Nahi”, opposing BJP candidate Tarachand Jain.

“I am still with the party and urge the top leaders to reconsider the decision of Udaipur City,” Singhvi said.

In Bikaner East, former chairman of the Urban Development Trust, Mahavir Ranka, has held a meeting with his supporters and registered his protest against BJP candidate Siddhi Kumari.  

On Sunday, several protests were witnessed in parts of the state.

Supporters of BJP dissidents allegedly damaged furniture in the party’s Rajsamand district office and burnt election campaign-related material on the road along with tyres to protest against the candidature of Deepti Maheshwari.

Similar protests were witnessed when the party released its first list of candidates.

There are a total of 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan, and till now the BJP has fielded candidates for a total of 124 seats.

Assembly polls will be held in Rajasthan on November 25, while the counting of votes will take place on December 3.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Congress’ Rajasthan state election committee held discussions on names of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections, amid demonstrations by party workers against some sitting MLAs.

They demanded that the party not give tickets to certain MLAs for the November 25 elections.

The committee headed by state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra will present the names of candidates at a meeting of the party’s screening committee in Delhi.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and other members of the committee attended the meeting at the party’s war room on Friday evening.

When the meeting was going on, several groups of Congress workers from different constituencies held protests against some sitting party MLAs and demanded that they not be given tickets to contest the elections. Following the meeting, Mr Dotasra said that everyone has the right to express their views.

“Congress workers have been expressing their views for a long time. If anyone expresses his views, we will listen to him, and whatever is appropriate, it will be conveyed to the screening committee,” he told reporters.

Mr Gehlot said that it was not uncommon to have adverse comments against an MP or an MLA at the time of elections.

“Such comments may be true or false. There could also be a conspiracy. So, this goes on. Ultimately, the party high command will take appropriate decisions and the winnable candidate will be given ticket, and that will be accepted by all of us,” he said.

Mr Gehlot said that things are going smoothly in the party. The party will be launching an election campaign in eastern Rajasthan from Baran where party president Mallikarjun Kharge will address a meeting on October 16, he said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will hold a rally in Sikrai, Dausa on October 20, he said.

CM Gehlot said that small and big rallies will be held in 13 eastern Rajasthan districts covered under the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) He said that his government kept on demanding from the central government to give national project status to the ERCP but the Centre did not do so.

Now, the Congress will be exposing the BJP-led central government on this issue through meetings in eastern Rajasthan districts, the chief minister said.

Soon before the meeting began, party workers from Kaman, Sawai Madhopur, Kishanpole and Sardarshahar constituencies reached near the war room and staged protests.

They raised slogans against some sitting MLAs and demanded that they should not be given tickets.

Zahida Khan is the Congress MLA from Kaman constituency while Danish Abrar is from Sawai Madhopur, Amin Kagzi from Kishanpole (Jaipur) and Anil Sharma from Sardarshahar (Churu).

“Danish Abror is going to face defeat if the Congress gives him a ticket. He neglected party workers for five years, we had to wait for hours to meet him. Meeting him was a tough task and therefore, he should not be given ticket,” Ali Mohammad, a party worker from his constituency said.

Another person from Kaman constituency said that there was huge resentment against Zahida and people want the party to give ticket to a winnable candidate.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Congress on Tuesday claimed there is no anti-incumbency against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan and the party will buck the trend of alternating governments in the desert state. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi made the remarks after chairing a meeting of the party’s screening committee for Rajasthan in the presence of state leaders here.

Mr Gogoi also accused the BJP of fielding its MPs in the state assembly polls out of fear of losing in the 2024 parliamentary polls, claiming there is a lot of anti-incumbency against them.

“There has been a tradition in Rajasthan for many years that the government changes every five years, but this time we have seen very closely that there is no anti-incumbency against the government and the chief minister.

“This time the tradition is going to break and that is why the BJP is scared and has given tickets in the assembly polls to those MPs against whom there is a lot of opposition. There is big anti-incumbency as they know they are not going to win the Lok Sabha polls again,” the Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha said.

Chief Minister Gehlot, who is seeking to repeat his government in the state, also met former party chief Sonia Gandhi as also the party’s treasurer Ajay Maken.

Mr Gehlot, who was here to attend the Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday, left the national capital for Rajasthan in the afternoon.

Rajasthan goes to polls on November 30 for the 200-member state assembly.

Asked about who would be the CM face in Rajasthan, Mr Gogoi said the party would follow the tradition.

On when the party would declare its candidates, he alleged that the BJP knows all the news in advance about when the model code is going to be imposed and when the election schedule is going to be declared, hence their preparations are done accordingly.

“See, how much chemistry there is between the two when the elections are declared, the list is prepared,” he said.

“As far as the Congress party is concerned, we are fully active and fully prepared…we are going to win this election,” Mr Gogoi said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)