Rajasthan bypoll: Minister Kirodi’s brother, party rebels on BJP’s list of candidates

Following the loss of some Lok Sabha seats in eastern Rajasthan this year, Kirodi Lal Meena had submitted his resignation as a cabinet minister, claiming “moral responsibility” for the losses. However, some in the party had suspected sabotage by Kirodi in Dausa as he is said to have been hoping for a ticket for his brother Jagmohan but the party opted for Kanhaiya Lal Meena, who lost the election.

Ever since his resignation, Kirodi has been locked in a skirmish with the Bhajan Lal Sharma government, embarrassing it on various occasions. An Assembly ticket for Jagmohan now signals an olive branch by the party, while Kirodi would be expected to withdraw his resignation; Kirodi’s nephew Rajendra Meena is also an MLA from Mahwa in Dausa district. An RSS member, Jagmohan retired as a Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officer.

As for Jhunjhunu, denied a ticket by the party in 2023 elections, Rajendra Singh Bhamboo had rebelled and contested as an independent but stood third behind Congress’s Brijendra Singh Ola and Nisheet Kumar alias Bablu Choudhary. This time, the party has opted for Bhamboo instead of Bablu.

Similarly, the party has opted for 2023 rebel Sukhvant Singh in Ramgarh. Since 1990, this seat has shifted between the Khan family of Congress and Gyan Dev Ahuja of BJP. Congress leader Zubair Khan was first elected from here in 1990 and again in 1993, 2003 and 2023. Ahuja won the seat in 1998, 2008, and 2013, but was dropped in 2018, allegedly owing to his differences with then CM Vasundhara Raje. The Congress also dropped Khan, and instead fielded his wife Shafia Zubair, who defeated Sukhvant Singh of BJP.

Last year, the Congress had dropped Shafia for her husband, who passed away last month. In 2023, the BJP had fielded Gyan Dev’s relative Jai Ahuja, who had stood third, while Sukhavant Singh had contested as an Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) candidate and polled over 74,000 votes and stood second.

In Deoli-Uniara too, the BJP has dropped its 2023 candidate, Vijay Bainsla, son of late Gujjar agitation leader Kirori Bainsla, instead opting for former MLA Rajendra Gurjar (2013-18), who was defeated by Harish Meena in 2018. Rajendra had sought a ticket again in 2023 but the party opted for Vijay Bainsla.

Revant Ram Danga is the only candidate in the BJP’s list who has been repeated from 2023 elections. In one of the most closely watched and controversial election from 2023 polls, Danga had lost to Rashtriya Loktantrik Party chief Hanuman Beniwal by just 2,059 votes in Khinvsar, once considered the RLP stronghold as it has remained in Beniwal family since the first election here in 2008.

Of the seven bypoll seats, only Salumber, a tribal seat, was with the BJP. Here, Amrit Lal Meena was the party’s sitting MLA, having won the seat in 2013, 2018 and 2023. Hoping to ride the sympathy wave, the BJP has fielded his wife Shanta Devi Meena from here. The last time the Congress had won this seat was in 2008, when Raghuvir Meena had won.