Two Union ministers and an equal number of sitting BJP MPs are among 114 candidates left in the fray for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls slated for April 19 on 12 seats of Rajasthan.
With the deadline for withdrawal of nomination papers ending at 3 pm on Saturday, 12 BJP candidates, 11 Congress nominees, one INDIA bloc ally from the CPI-M, and others will now start campaigning for the polls.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has filed his nomination papers from the Bikaner parliamentary seat against former Rajasthan minister and Congress candidate Govind Ram Meghwal.
Union Minister of Labour, Employment and Environment Bhupendra Yadav will contest the Alwar seat against Congress’s Lalit Yadav, a sitting MLA in the state.
BJP’s two sitting MPs — Sukhbeer Jaunpuria from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, and Sumedhanand Saraswati from the Sikar seat — will vie against Congress’s sitting MLA Harish Meena, and CPI-M leader Amraram (INDIA bloc partner) on their respective seats.
Sitting MP and BJP’s rebel candidate Rahul Kaswan is pitted against BJP’s Devendra Jhanjharia, a Paralympian, on a Congress ticket for the Churu seat.
BJP’s 3 new women faces — Priyanka Bailan from Sriganganagar, Manju Sharma from Jaipur, and Indudevi Jatav from Karauli-Dholpur — are also in the fray. Congress’s woman candidate Sanjana Jatav will contest against BJP’s Ram Swaroop Koli on the Bharatpur seat.
The first-phase election on April 19 will be held on the following seats: Sriganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur-rural, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa and Tonk-Sawai Madhopur.
The second-phase poll process for 13 seats, scheduled for April 26, will begin on March 26.