Sachin Pilot is a popular and charismatic leader in Rajasthan, and his nomination is seen as a major boost for the Congress party. He is facing a tough challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is currently in power in the state. However, Pilot is confident of winning the election and leading the Congress back to power in Rajasthan.
Jaipur: Former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot filed his nomination for the upcoming state polls from the Tonk assembly constituency. Before filing his nomination papers, Pilot offered prayers at the Bhuteshwar Mahadev temple. He later took out a procession with his supporters from Bada Kuan to Patel Chowk in Tonk City. Polling for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly will be held on November 25, and votes will be counted on December 3.
Pilot is a popular and charismatic leader in Rajasthan, and his nomination is seen as a major boost for the Congress party. He is facing a tough challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is currently in power in the state. However, Pilot is confident of winning the election and leading the Congress back to power in Rajasthan.
The BJP is yet to announce a candidate against Pilot. The last date for filing nominations is November 6.
Pilot had contested from Tonk in the 2018 Rajasthan Assembly elections and won by a margin of over 54,000 votes against the BJP’s Yoonus Khan.
Two Rajasthan Ministers Not To Contest Elections, Congress Worried
After the announcement of Forest and Environment Minister Hemaram Chaudhary not to contest elections, another minister, Lalchand Kataria, also refused to contest the Assembly polls.
It is claimed that no member of Kataria’s family will contest the elections. There was speculation that Congress might field Lal Chand Kataria from Jhotwara constituency against BJP MP Rajyawardhan Rathore. However, his strong refusal to contest the elections has left the Congress in a catch-22 situation.
As per sources, Chaudhary does not want to contest the elections, and he has conveyed this to the high command: Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, party General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, and state President Govind Singh Dotasara.
Kataria did not talk about this matter. But his spokesperson said that he had informed the high command two years ago about his intention not to contest the elections. Now he is concentrating on spirituality. Meanwhile, the refusal of two senior ministers to contest elections has left the Congress worried.
The worry is strong from Jhotwara seat where Rathore is contesting the polls. Sources said that Kataria knows that he is losing elections and is uncomfortable from there. Kataria earlier had said that he wants to contest polls from Amer. Now, Satish Poonia, deputy leader of opposition, is contesting polls from Amer.
“We are searching for the right candidate and shall soon field. The central election committee has already called a meeting. Things will proceed as per the wish and will of high command. If high command insists, the candidates might contest the polls,” said Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi.
Meanwhile, veteran BJP worker Amit Goyal said, “The point is that it has now become evident that Congress is a sinking ship and no one wants to board the sinking ship. Besides two state ministers, former Congress minister Bharat Singh has already refused to contest the elections irked by highly corrupt activities of his party. He has been writing letters to the CM complaining of such issues but no one took cognizance of such issues.”
Goyal also quipped on the delayed announcement of candidates on 105 seats by Congress.
“While CM Ashok Gehlot has said that seats will be announced two months before the elections, the delayed announcement of candidates on these many seats raise questions. There are too many internal fights among the party. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on her Rajasthan visit has termed Sachin Pilot as the future of the party, however, this future of the party is missing in the Congress posters which shows how deep the factions are,” he added.
Rajasthan Congress Appoints 7 in-Charges, 3 Coordinators
The Rajasthan Congress on Tuesday appointed seven in-charges and three coordinators for the promotion of its seven guarantees ahead of the upcoming state polls. These in-charges and coordinators will take the Congress’ guarantees to every household as part of the ‘Congress Guarantee Yatra’, Rajasthan party in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said in a post on X.
Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi has been appointed as Udaipur in-charge, Sachin Pilot has been given the responsibility of Ajmer, Harish Chaudhary of Jodhpur, Govind Ram Meghwal of Bikaner, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh of Jaipur, Mohan Prakash of Bharatpur and Pramod Jain Bhaya of Anta.
The three coordinators are All India Congress Committee secretaries Qazi Nizamuddin, Virendra Singh Rathore and Amrita Dhawan.
“The Congress’ seven guarantees are getting tremendous support from the people of Rajasthan. Under ‘Congress Guarantee Yatra’, seven in-charges and three coordinators have been nominated to deliver the seven guarantees to every household in the state,” Randhawa said in his post on X in Hindi.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has announced seven guarantees, including providing laptops to government college students, English-medium education to every student, and an annual honorarium of Rs 10,000 to the woman head of a family if the Congress returns to power in Rajasthan.
(With inputs from agencies)