BJP list makes room for parivar quota

The BJP released its fourth list of candidates today, and prominent among those in the list include sons of Finance Minister Jaswant Singh a...

The BJP released its fourth list of candidates today, and prominent among those in the list include sons of Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, and former CMs Kailash Joshi (Bhopal) and Babulal Marandi (Koderma, Chhattisgarh).

Four new entrants to the party — Mohammad Anwarul Haque (Sheohar, Bihar), Digvijay Singh’s brother Laxman Singh (Rajgarh, MP), former Rajya Sabha deputy chairman G.G. Swell’s son Sanbor Swell Lyngdoh (Shillong) and former Baroda royal family member Shubhangini Devi Gaekwad (Kheda, Gujarat) — also figure in the list. The party CEC, which met at the residence of PM A.B. Vajpayee, cleared 36 names, taking the total number of candidates announced so far to 324. The party’s indecision over the remaining 40-odd names made the leaders schedule another meeting for Saturday.

The party has re-nominated 15 of the 16 sitting MPs of Rajasthan. The only change is in Bayana (reserved) constituency, where the ticket has gone to Ram Swarup Koli. The CEC is yet to finalise all 10 candidates for Haryana, nine for UP, six for Rajasthan, three each for Karnataka and Maharashtra and one each for West Bengal, Uttaranchal and Delhi.

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Party general secretary Pramod Mahajan had a hard time answering questions on the candidature of Manvendra Singh, son of Jaswant Singh, from Barmer and Dushyant Singh, son of Vasundhara Raje, from Jhalawar. ‘‘How is this different from Congress?’’ a reporter asked. Mahajan tried to highlight the difference arguing that Manvendra had fought the last polls too. ‘‘Our contention is if somebody can just contest without any experience,’’ he added. When asked ‘‘What is Dushyant’s experience?’’ Mahajan claimed: ‘‘He has been working for 10 years.’’

He further explained: ‘‘I am quoting them (Congress). Sonia Gandhi has said Rahul Gandhi has decided to contest from Amethi. In case of all these (BJP candidates), nobody can say ‘I have decided to contest’. They can only say the CEC has decided to field them.’’

When asked why the names of Haryana candidates were withheld, Mahajan said: ‘‘Ask Congress too. Both have delayed their lists.’’

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