Rajasthan polls: BJP releases 2nd list, ex-CM Vasundhara Raje to contest from Jhalrapatan
Rajasthan will go to the assembly polls in a single-phase voting on November 25 and the counting of votes will be on December 3.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday releases its second list of 83 candidates for Rajasthan legislative assembly elections.
The party has fielded two-time chief minister Vasundhara Raje from Jhalrapatan assembly constituency. The 70-year-old veteran leader has represented this seat since 2003 when she first became the CM. The other prominent candidates named in the second list include Rajendra Rathod (Taranagar), former state chief Satish Puniya (Amber), Kalicharan Saraf (Malviya Nagar), Vasudev Devnani (Ajmer North), Narpat Singh Rajvi (Chittorgarh) and Anita Bhadel (Ajmer South).
Here's the full list of candidates announced by the BJP:
Barring the Janata Party's victory in 1977, Rajasthan's politics was dominated by the Congress till 1990. The BJP had won the 1990 assembly election and formed the government under Bhairon Singh Shekhawat but the tenure was cut short following the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 and the subsequent communal violence. In 1993, the BJP won the election and formed the government under Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, only instance when a party repeated its electoral performance in the desert state. In 1998, the Congress came to power by winning 153 seats and formed the government under Ashok Gehlot. However, the party could not repeat its success in the assembly elections in 2003, losing to the BJP that bagged 120 seats. The grand old party could bag just 56 seats. In 2008, Congress emerged as the single largest party with 96 seats against the BJP's 78. Gehlot again became the chief minister and formed the government with the help of independents. However, the Congress was routed in the 2013 assembly election with the BJP winning a whopping 163 seats, forming the government under Vasundhara Raje once again. In 2018, the Congress returned to power by winning 100 seats while the incumbent BJP won just 72. After days of stalemate, the grand old party announced Gehlot as the CM with then state Congress chief Sachin Pilot as his deputy. The next five years witnessed an intense power tussle between Gehlot and Pilot. Rajasthan is among the five states that will go to polls with Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. It will vote in a single phase election on November 25. The counting of votes will be held on December 3.
