In Rajasthan, BJP reels from ticket aspirants’ blowback despite safe play in second list

Chittorgarh MLA Chandrabhan Singh Aakya blames state BJP chief C P Joshi for denying him ticket, alleging that the latter had roots in Congress and nursed an old grudge against him

In Chittorgarh, two-time incumbent MLA Chandrabhan Singh Aakya has been denied a ticket with the BJP choosing to field Narpat Singh Rajvi in his place. (Facebook/Chandrabhan Singh Aakya)

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With its first list of nominees for the November 25 elections to the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly sparking discontent among aspirants denied tickets, the BJP did not field any more of its MPs and named only anticipated candidates in its second list, but the party is still facing widespread resentment and protests over it across the state.

In its second list of 83 candidates released last week, the BJP repeated over three fourth of its 70 sitting MLAs while denying tickets to just a handful of them. However, the party is still seeing a backlash from the supporters of the legislators denied tickets, or from detractors of some of the MLAs fielded again.

In Chittorgarh, two-time incumbent MLA Chandrabhan Singh Aakya has been denied a ticket with the BJP choosing to field Narpat Singh Rajvi in his place. Rajvi is the incumbent MLA from Vidhayadhar Nagar and son-in-law of former vice-president late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Rajvi has been an MLA from Chittorgarh in 1993 and 2003.

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Aakya put the blame squarely on state BJP chief and Chittorgarh MP C P Joshi for denying him a ticket, alleging that Joshi nursed an old grudge against him. He even sought to rake up Joshi’s roots in the Congress.

“This is a local fight. I was an ABVP (RSS’ students wing) worker and our brother C P Joshi ji was working with NSUI (Congress students’ wing). He became president and vice president (in the college students’ union) from NSUI. Since that time our college rivalry is going on… Now he is the state party president. Somewhere he has a grudge against me. I knew for a while that he will cut my ticket,” Aakya alleged while speaking to reporters.

Joshi has often drawn barbs from his Congress rivals for his Congress background. But Aakya’s salvos appeared to be more bristling.

Aakya has also said he will let the public decide whether he would contest the election as an Independent candidate. Ever since he was denied a ticket, his supporters have been turning up in large numbers to show their support for him.

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While Joshi has tried to downplay these protests by pointing out that the decisions related to ticket distribution are taken collectively and not by any individual, the supporters of the sitting Chittorgarh MLA have burned the former’s effigies and posters to vent their anger.

The discontent among the BJP supporters has also flared in Rajsamand, where the BJP has again fielded incumbent MLA Deepti Kiran Maheshwari, the daughter of former legislator late Kiran Maheshwari. Deepti had won the seat in a bypoll in 2021, which was necessitated by her mother’s demise.

In videos that have gone viral on social media, purported BJP workers are seen allegedly damaging furniture in the Rajsamand BJP office, angry over the ticket being given to Deepti whom they termed an “outsider”. On Sunday, the state BJP disciplinary committee suspended four workers — Ajay Prajapat, Devi Lal Jatiya, Himmat Kumawat and Mukesh Sharma — from the primary membership of the party over this incident.

In Udaipur, where Tarachand Jain has got the ticket, the BJP is facing the ire of the city’s deputy mayor Paras Singhvi, who has taken aim at Assam Governor and former Udaipur MLA Gulab Chand Kataria, accusing him of allegedly “interfering in local politics”.

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In Jaipur, the supporters of sitting Sanganer MLA Ashok Lahoty, who is also a former mayor of Jaipur, protested outside the party office Sunday. Lahoty has been denied a ticket with the party replacing him with Bhajan Lal Sharma on the seat.

Earlier this month, following the release of its first list of 41 candidates the BJP witnessed massive protests by the party workers as it fielded seven of its sitting MPs in the fray.