The Congress on Sunday announced its second list of 43 candidates for the Rajasthan Assembly elections, mostly names of sitting ministers and MLAs from their current seats, apart from accommodating five Independent MLAs who have supported the Ashok Gehlot government. The list includes 10 Cabinet ministers, five Ministers of State and 15 sitting MLAs apart from the Independent MLAs who have got party tickets this time. The party has also named seven candidates from seats currently being held by the BJP. The only MLA to be “dropped” is Shafia Zubair from Ramgarh. The party has fielded her husband Zubair Khan instead from the seat. On Saturday, the Congress had declared 33 names and now with the second list, the party has announced candidates for 76 out of the total 200 Assembly seats. Chief Minister Gehlot’s imprint is apparent on the names announced so far, with the party repeating almost all sitting MLAs as well as supporting Independents. The Gehlot camp has credited the MLAs for saving his government twice, first during the 2020 rebellion and subsequently in September 2022, when the party high command apparently wanted to replace Gehlot with Sachin Pilot as the Chief Minister. Hence, Gehlot has been keen to repeat the sitting MLAs, despite possible anti-incumbency against them. However, three Gehlot loyalists and heavyweights who were the architects of the 2022 “rebellion” did not figure in the second list either with the party high command said to be asserting its authority and not backing their candidature. The three are Cabinet ministers Shanti Dhariwal and Mahesh Joshi, and Dharmendra Rathore, the Chairman of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation. The Cabinet ministers who have retained their seats are Bulaki Das Kalla (Bikaner West), Govind Ram Meghwal (Khajuwala), Pratap Singh Khachariyawas (Civil Lines), Shakuntala Rawat (Bansur), Vishvendra Singh (Deeg Kumher), Ramlal Jat (Mandal); Bhajanlal Jatav (Weir), Parsadi Lal (Lalsot), Udaylal Anjana (Nimbaheda) and Pramod Jain Bhaya (Anta). Earlier, the party had declared three other Cabinet ministers from their respective seats. The Ministers of State who have retained their seats are Brijendra Singh Ola (Jhunjhunu), Rajendra Singh Yadav (Kotputli), Murari Lal Meena (Dausa), Sukhram Vishnoi (Sanchore), and Arjun Singh Bamniya (Banswara). The party had declared two other junior ministers in its first list. So far, 21 out of 30 ministers, including CM Gehlot, have been given tickets. The 15 MLAs who have been repeated include former cabinet minister Raghu Sharma (Kekri), Deputy Chief Whip Mahendra Choudhary (Nawan), Ameen Kagzi (Kishanpol), Rafeek Khan (Adarsh Nagar) and Rohit Bohra (Raja Khera). The five Independent MLAs who have been supporting the Congress and have now been fielded by the party are Babulal Nagar (Dudu), Laxman Meena (Bassi), Om Prakash Hudla (Mahwa), Khushveer Singh (Marwar Junction) and Sanyam Lodha (Sirohi). The Congress has also announced candidates for seven seats where the BJP is in power. In four of these, the party has repeated its candidates who lost in the 2018 elections. Naseem Akhtar Insaf has been fielded from Pushkar, where he lost to Suresh Singh Rawat in 2018; Pushkar Lal Dangi has been fielded from Mawli, where he lost to Dharmnarayan Joshi; Raghuveer Singh Meena has been fielded from Salumber, where he lost to Amrit Lal Meena; and Nanalal Ninama has been fielded from Ghatol, where he lost to Harendra Ninama. As for the other three seats, former Chief Secretary Niranjan Arya has been fielded from Sojat in Pali district. In 2018, Congress had fielded Shobha Solanki, who had lost to BJP’s Shobha Chauhan, the current MLA. In Suratgarh, the party has fielded Dungar Ram Gedar, who contested as a BSP candidate in 2018 but stood third behind BJP and Congress candidates, respectively. In Nokha, the Congress has fielded Sushila Dudi, wife of former Leader of Opposition Rameshwar Dudi who lost in 2018 to BJP’s Biharilal. With Rameshwar Dudi recovering from a brain haemorrhage he suffered a few months ago, the party has fielded his wife.
