Why Are The Two Heavyweights Of Rajasthan, Gehlot And Raje, Missing In Action?

Two veterans of Rajasthan, former CMs Vasundhara Raje (BJP) & Ashok Gahalot (Congress) seem to be missing from their respective parties’ 2024 election campaigns.

Vasundhara Raje

Raje is nowhere to be seen except Jhalawar, her son Dushyant Singh’s seat.

As the ‘Maharani’ of Dholpur royal family, she’s not even made a single tour to her home seat Karauli-Dholpur. Candidates have been asking the state unit to get Raje rolling but she & party leadership both seem disinterested.

Raje seems to be sulking as her supporters didn’t get enough importance in the state cabinet after she was not made the CM post last year’s victory in assembly polls.

Even in the LS polls now, Raje’s supporters and sitting MPs Manoj Rajoria, Ramcharan Bohra, Nihalchand Meghwal, & Rahul Kaswa have been denied tickets.

Ashok Gehlot

Similarly, former CM Ashok Gehlot seems to be active only in Sirohi-Jalore, the LS seat his son Vaibhav is contesting.

Ashok Gehlot has spent 10 days mobilising support for his son. He even went to Mumbai and Bangalore reaching out to the Jalore-Sirohi migrants living there.

Touring the villages & towns in Sirohi-Jalore, Gehlot asked for votes for Vaibhav in exchange of his ‘personal guarantee’ that Vaibhav will remain active for the public.

Though Gehlot visited 4 other seats, it was seen as a mere formality as he only sought votes for his favourites. Ashok Gehlot is unhappy with the ticket distribution as

Sachin Pilot’s camp has been given more importance. Out of the 22 seats that Congress is contesting, 8 have gone to Pilot’s camp. This seems to be why Gehlot spends most of his time in his son Vaibhav’s constituency. Meanwhile, Pilot has held nine gatherings in seven seats till now.

Interesting Recall! In the CWC meeting after 2019 debacle, Rahul Gandhi had lambasted senior leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, for keeping their sons above the party.

“Rajasthan CM spent seven days campaigning for his son in Jodhpur neglecting the rest of the state.”

Stage For A Riveting Battle In Barmer Set With Independent Bhati’s Entry

Ravindra Singh Bhati, former BJP leader and currently independent MLA from Rajasthan’s Sheo assembly seat, has filed his nomination from the Barmer LS seat.

This has made direct Barmer a triangular contest between BJP’s Union Minister Kailash Choudhary, Congress’ Ummeda Ram Beniwal, and Bhati.

Barmer Lok Sabha seat comprises regions of Barmer, Balotra, and Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan.

Who is Ravindra Singh Bhati?

• Bhati (26) hails from Dudhoda village of Barmer district and belongs to the Rajput community.

• He began his political journey with student politics at the Jai Narain Vyas University (JNVU) in Jodhpur. After ABVP denied him a ticket in 2019, he contested independently and became the first independent student union president in JNVU’s 57-year history.

• During his tenure, he raised several student concerns, including fee issues and was also jailed multiple times.

• Bhati, who joined BJP in 2023 ahead of assembly polls, was expecting a ticket from Sheo seat. When he was denied the ticket, he contested and won as an independent becoming Sheo’s first independent MP.

• He was also the youngest MLA in the 2023 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly elections alongside Anshuman Singh Bhati. Now, Bhati has drawn significant attention to his Lok Sabha campaign.

• A large crowd accompanied him for filing his nomination. The Barmer-Jaisalmer region has traditionally seen Jats and Rajputs competing with each other for political dominance.

• In the current election, while both BJP & Congress nominees are Jats, Bhati is gaining by projecting himself as the lone Rajput challenger to the ‘Jat dominance’.

BJP’s 10th List – Retentions & Omissions

The BJP has announced its 10th list of Lok Sabha
candidates, featuring nine individuals.

• Among the notable changes, the party has decided not to field Kirron Kher, the two-time MP from
  Chandigarh, and instead nominated Sanjay Tandon,
  the BJP’s Chandigarh president, for the seat.

• Additionally, SS Ahluwalia, the current MP from Bardhaman-Durgapur, has been named as the candidate from Asansol following Bhojpuri star Pawan Singh’s withdrawal.

• This marks Ahluwalia’s third constituency in West
  Bengal after winning from Darjeeling in 2014 and
  Bardhaman-Durgapur in 2019.

• The third list also includes seven candidates from Uttar Pradesh. State Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh
  Thakur will contest against the Akhilesh Yadav’s wife
  Dimple Yadav in Mainpuri.

• Incumbent MPs Vinod Sonkar and BP Saroj have been fielded again from Kaushambi and Machhlishahr respectively. Praveen Patel, a Phulpur MLA, has been nominated for a Lok Sabha seat.

• Rita Bahuguna Joshi, the Prayagraj MP and former UP
  Minister, who will be turning 75 soon has been
  replaced by Neeraj Tripathi.

• Neeraj Shekhar, a Rajya Sabha MP and son of former
  Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, will contest from
  Ballia, a constituency he previously won twice (2008
  & 2009) as an SP candidate. However, in 2014, he lost
  to BJP’s Bharat Singh.

• In a new entry into electoral politics, Paras Nath Rai, from RSS, will contest from Ghazipur against SP’s
  Afzal Ansari, brother of gangster-politician Mukhtar
  Ansari.

• Rai is considered close to Manoj Sinha, who lost to
  Afzal in 2019 and later became the Lieutenant
  Governor of Jammu-Kashmir.