The Congress party Saturday finally released its first list of candidates, 10 days after the BJP announced its first set of names for the coming Rajasthan polls. With the full list still awaited, some of those growing anxious by the day are the MLAs who moved together to the Congress after winning in 2018 on BSP tickets. The party has fielded Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot from Sardarpura and Sachin Pilot from Tonk, from where they won the 2018 Assembly elections, respectively. The Congress list was said to be held up because of serious differences within the party over benching of some MLAs, including ministers. Sources said Gehlot is determined, for one, that the former BSP MLAs who have supported him through several political crises after crossing over to the Congress in 2019 be accommodated. Of the six BSP MLAs who switched sides, five are in the fray for a Congress ticket. The exception is Rajendra Singh Gudha, the first to allege the existence of a ‘red diary’ containing details of corruption by the Gehlot government, who also attacked the CM over “crimes against women” while being a minister. Both allegations have been taken up by the BJP in a big way against the Gehlot government. After Gehlot removed Gudha as minister, he joined the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) and is now among the CM's most bitter critics. The remaining five BSP-turned-Congress MLAs are waiting to see if the Congress will return the favour and field them, despite competing claims from the party for their respective constituencies. All five happen to be MLAs from eastern Rajasthan, a region that voted overwhelmingly for the Congress in 2018. The fact that, despite the Congress wave, they won on tickets of the BSP – a minor player in the BJP vs Congress politics of Rajasthan – shows that they hold significant influence in their respective areas. The Congress thus has some difficult choices to make. The five MLAs: Sandeep Kumar Yadav: He won in 2018 from Tijara, a seat with sizeable Yadav votes. Earlier with the BJP, Yadav had moved to the BSP after being denied a ticket. In 2018, he defeated Congress heavyweight and former minister Durru Miyan by a margin of over 4,000 votes. This year, the BJP has fielded its high-profile Alwar MP Balak Nath from Tijara. However, the choice has provoked protests by local leaders, with former BJP MLA Maman Singh Yadav announcing that he will contest as an Independent. If not Yadav, the Congress needs an equally strong candidate from Tijara, to take on Balak Nath. Lakhan Singh: He is the MLA from Karauli. In the 2013 Assembly polls, Singh had contested on a National People’s Party ticket and finished third. But in 2018, he won the seat on a BSP ticket. Deepchand: He won in 2018 from Kishangarh Bas Assembly seat, on a BSP ticket, after having lost the constituency both in 2008 and 2013 as a Congress nominee and being denied a ticket by the party last time. Deepchand is over 80, one of the factors reportedly weighing on the Congress mind as it considers its options in Kishangarh Bas. Joginder Singh Awana: He won from Bharatpur district’s Nadbai in 2018, defeating former minister and BJP leader Krishnendra Kaur Deepa, a member of the erstwhile Bharatpur royal family. Wajib Ali: He became an MLA after winning the Nagar seat in Bharatpur, by a margin of over 25,000 votes, on a BSP ticket. In 2013, he had contested on a National People’s Party Ticket and come second. Despite the BSP moving court against their merger, ever since 2019, the former BSP MLAs barring Gudha have been firmly by Gehlot’s side. The CM has often thanked the former BSP MLAs from public platforms for supporting him, even saying his government could only be “saved” because of them. At times the ex-BSP MLAs have also targeted legislators from Gehlot's rival Sachin Pilot's camp, accusing the latter of putting pressure on the Congress high command for ministerial berths despite its dissident activities. In contrast, they say, the former BSP MLAs have given the Congress government “stability”.
