Gehlot dissenters get tickets as Cong leans on winnability

Sonarams son and local Youth Congress president Raman Choudhary led demonstrations against the decision.

The Congresss first list of 63 candidates released three days ago had barely any surprise as the party played it safe,fielding 18 ministers and 24 sitting legislators and giving a chance to only six new faces. But a closer look at the list also shows the party has decided to stick to the winnability factor,even if it meant giving tickets to dissenters of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

For instance,Col Sonarams tiff with Gehlot over the location of the Barmer oil refinery is no secret in the state. Barely a couple of months ago,when the state government announced that the refinery,initially slated to be located at Lilala in Sonarams constituency,was being shifted to Pachpadra,the Jat leader lashed out at Gehlot,alleging that he was deliberately shifting the refinery towards Jodhpur to gain advantage on his home turf.

Sonarams son and local Youth Congress president Raman Choudhary led demonstrations against the decision and claimed he was championing the cause of the youth of Barmer,who he said wanted the refinery closer to the city.

Legislator from neighbouring Gudamalani constituency and cabinet minister Hemaram Choudhary was pulled up by Sonaram for not being able to fight for the cause of the locals. Hemaram,considered to be a Gehlot loyalist,offered to step down but the chief minister refused to accept his resignation.

The partys first list features Sonaram from his Baytoo constituency while Hemarams candidature is yet to be announced. Out of the total seven seats in Barmer,six Congress candidates have been repeated,except Gudamalani where the party is yet to take a call on Hemaram.

Apart from Revenue Minister Hemaram,the party is yet to take a call on Tourism Minister Bina Kak,Agriculture Minister Harjiram Burdak,Education Minister Naseem Akhtar Insaaf,Technical and Engineering Education Minister Ram Kishore Saini,Transport Minister Virendra Beniwal,Science and Technology and Health Minister Rajkumar Sharma.

Out of the 13 parliamentary secretaries,only Zahida Khan and Mamata Bhupesh feature in the first list. Khan,who is being repeated from Kaman,was recently chargesheeted by the CBI in the Gopalgarh firing case but owing to her significant clout in the area the party decided to field her yet again.

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Despite negative feedback against Brij Kishore Sharma from his constituency and speculation that legislator Pratap Singh Khachariawas was facing anti-incumbency,both have been repeated from their Hawa Mahal and Civil Lines constituencies.

The party has fielded six new faces,drawing much curiosity Urmila Jogi in Thanagazi; Chhatri Bai Sahariya,mother of former MLA Nirmala Sahariya,in Kishanganj; Mahant Nirmal Das,a seer who runs an ashram in Balotra,in Siwana; Bhanwar Singh Bhati,a sarpanch,in Kolayat; Krishna Poonia in Sadulpur; and Jagdish Jandu in Ganganagar. Poonia,who was inducted in Rahul Gandhis rally in Churu,holds sway over the Jat stronghold and was an obvious choice. But the selection of the others have led to resentment,said party insiders.