After Congress declares candidates for Rajya Sabha poll from Rajasthan, Gehlot advisor questions choice

After the names of the candidates were made public on Sunday, Independent MLA from Sirohi Sanyam Lodha questioned the party’s decision. “The Congress party should tell the reason for not making any Congress leader/worker from Rajasthan candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections,” tweeted Lodha, who is also the advisor to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

#कांग्रेस_नवसंकल्प

कांग्रेस पार्टी को यह बताना चाहिए कि राजस्थान के किसी भी कांग्रेस नेता/कार्यकर्ता को राज्यसभा चुनाव में प्रत्याशी नही बनाने के क्या कारण है ?#Rajasthan #Congress#RajyaSabhaElection2022#RajyaSabha@RahulGandhi@priyankagandhi @INCIndia @INCRajasthan pic.twitter.com/HHz9ZrowAA

— Sanyam Lodha (@SanyamLodha66) May 29, 2022

Speaking to The Indian Express, Lodha said that while the BJP has given an example of its “political strategy” by nominating Ghanshyam Tiwari for the Rajya Sabha elections, Congress workers from Rajasthan are disappointed. “Prima facie, everybody has felt bad that not even one person from Rajasthan was nominated despite the state having three seats. This is wrong. The Congress should reconsider the names and there is still time, and should give the opportunity to Congress leaders and workers from Rajasthan,” said Lodha.

Lodha said that the BJP’s nomination of Tiwari, who has been a fierce detractor of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, has sent out a message that the party is heading towards change. “The BJP has given an example of its political strategy by nominating Tiwari. The message is that the lootraj that went on from 2013-2018, it’s time is over in the BJP. Tiwari had continuously fought against that lootraj. The fact that Tiwari has been nominated despite contesting elections on his own and joining hands with the Congress shows that the BJP is heading towards a change,” said Lodha.

Tiwari, who has been elected as a legislator six times and has also served as a minister in previous BJP governments, had left the party in 2018 after a longstanding tussle with Raje. He had floated the Bharat Vahini Party and contested the Assembly elections in 2018, but failed to win a single seat. Thereafter, he had also merged his party with the Congress in 2019. Tiwari returned to the BJP in December 2020 and has now secured a nomination to the Rajya Sabha.

“It is about the role of the Congress party. In this tough time that the country is going through, the public is looking up to you (Congress) with the hope that the fight in Parliament and Assembly should be about public issues. At such a time if this kind of carelessness happens then the public will have to pay the price,” said Lodha.

After Lodha’s tweet on Sunday, Congress leader Rajiv Arora, another close aide of Ashok Gehlot, made a sarcastic comment on Twitter. Arora said as per newspaper reports Lodha himself had suggested that three names should be from outside the state and that he should be happy that his suggestion was considered.

To that, Lodha clarified while he had said that the Congress should send its leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Kanhaiya Kumar along with poet Kumar Vishwas to the Rajya Sabha, he meant it in the overall national context.

Lodha, a three-time MLA, was denied a ticket by the Congress prior to the 2018 Assembly elections but he went on to contest and win as an Independent candidate. He was one of the 12 Independent MLAs who became “associated members” of the Congress in 2019 during a rally of former party president Rahul Gandhi.

Considered as a staunch loyalist of Gehlot, he was made an advisor to the CM last year and he is known to vociferously defend the Congress in the Assembly. He was also selected as the “Legislator of the year” for 2020 in the Rajasthan Assembly.

At present, there are 13 Independent MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, whose support will be crucial for the Congress to ensure that all three of its candidates sail through in the Rajya Sabha elections. The last date for filing nominations is May 31.