With the inclusion of seven MPs, BJP’s first list of 41 candidates for the upcoming Rajasthan assembly polls has caught the state leaders off guard. Though fielding MPs in the assembly elections is not new, the scale is unprecedented in the state, and party leaders who found their name missing are voicing their discontent.

Some shed tears in public meetings while others, invariably in unison, posted on X: “We worked with honesty.”   

If political analysts and BJP insiders are to be believed, the BJP wants to shoot two birds with one stone: testing the grassroots connect of the MPs and putting its “best foot forward” in areas where the party is relatively weaker. In Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has followed the same template.

The BJP had lost all but two seats – Vidhyadhar Nagar and Mandawa – in the last assembly elections. And power in Rajasthan, with 200 assembly seats, has alternated between the BJP and Congress since 1996.

“We lost 39 seats in the last elections. So the party felt that it was better to give tickets to heavyweights to wrest control of these constituencies. Of the 41, as many as 19 are seats where we have not won for the last three terms. Overall, it makes sense to field prominent faces,” said a BJP zonal in-charge on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The party has given tickets to Lok Sabha MPs Diya Kumari, Balak Nath, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Narendra Kumar, Devji Patel and Bhagirath Choudhary as well as Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena. Except Diya Kumari, who is an MP from Rajasmand, all Lok Sabha MPs are fighting from their home turf. 

Kumari could not have asked for a safer seat than Vidhyadhar Nagar – a seat the party has not lost for three terms on the trot. Narpat Singh Rajvi, son-in-law of late former chief minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, has won from the seat since 2008. Kumari, who belongs to the Jaipur royal family, is also seen as a chief ministerial probable.

Reading between the names

Political observer Narayan Bareth listed two inferences over the selection of MPs. “First, the BJP may want to get rid of these MPs. Second, it is possible that the BJP could not find eligible candidates for these seats. The protest (by snubbed BJP leaders) that followed shows anti-incumbency and non-popularity of these candidates,” he said. He termed Diya Kumari “a lieutenant” of the state BJP who has been given the “safest seat”.

Sanjay Lodha, the Rajasthan coordinator of CSDS-Lokniti, listed two key messages behind the inclusion of MPs: the party may want to prevent factionalism in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and its “scepticism” to avoid any risks in the battle to regain power in the state. He agreed that the move may also “demotivate” regional leaders who were eyeing assembly seats.     

Will it be smooth sailing for these MPs? 

Of the seven MPs, three – Balak Nath, Devji Patel and Rathore – never contested assembly elections.

“While in the Lok Sabha elections, people vote for the party and national leader, in the state, it is the personality and leaders' connect with the masses,” said Lodha. In the 2014 and 2019 elections, the BJP had won all 25 Lok Sabha seats in what was termed as Modi wave and then tsunami. However, it remains to be seen how MPs strategise to win over the electorate beyond the grandeur of national politics.     

Pradeep Gupta, CMD and founder of Axis My India, said that the BJP has put up stalwarts to boost its chances in “relatively weaker seats”. He said MPs fighting MLAs is not new. Citing the 2023 Tripura assembly elections as an example, he said Pratima Bhowmik, who was then a Union minister, won from the Dhanpur assembly seat – where the Left party did not lose for almost three decades. After her victory, she vacated the seat and returned to the Central government. The BJP had then fielded two MPs from Tripura. 

Political analysts suggested the possibility of some of the MPs being asked to contest Lok Sabha polls if they win the assembly elections in Rajasthan.

Protest and ‘damage control’

Vidhyadhar Nagar MLA Rajvi has openly criticised Kumari. “I don’t know why the party obliged those who gave up against the Mughals and fought against Maharana Pratap,” he told Dainik Bhaskar, adding that he would not fight from any seat other than Vidhyadhar Nagar.

In Jhotwara assembly seat from where Rathore has been fielded, Rajpal Singh Shekhawat was the BJP candidate in the last assembly polls. His supporters protested against the BJP.

Anita Gurjar, who was BJP candidate from Nagar in 2018, was left nonplussed. She told the media that she was sidelined because she is a supporter of former chief minister and beleaguered BJP leader Vasundhara Raje. Rajvi and Shekhawat are also considered Raje loyalists.

Not only this, at least four snubbed BJP leaders have posted on X: “We worked with honesty.” 

These include Rajendra Bhamboo (Jhunjhunu), Danaram Choudhary (Sanchore), Yadram Jangal (Kotputli) and Vikas Choudhary (Kishangarh). Choudhary was emotional while addressing his supporters and asked them: “I have sacrificed everything for the party. Do you think the party has done justice to me?” 

MPs Bhagirath Choudhary and Narendra Kumar are in the fray from Kishangarh and Jhunjhunu.

In view of protests in several seats, the party has rushed to control the damage. Union minister and Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday told the media that a team led by Union minister and Barmer MLA Kailash Choudhary is managing the issue.

Meanwhile, reacting to the BJP list, Congress leader and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said that the saffron party has already conceded defeat by fielding MPs. “They (BJP) can't decide a face here, they gave tickets to MPs and I consider this as their biggest failure. This means they have conceded defeat and put up MPs because of this,” he said during a rally in Churu.

Countering Gehlot, BJP spokesperson Lakshmikant Bhardwaj asked which party “these faces” belonged to. “They all are from the BJP. The party took a decision keeping in mind its best interests in the polls. He said earlier too the BJP has asked MPs – Subhash Maharia and Dhan Singh Rawat – to test their mettle in the state elections.

A BJP leader blamed the protest on the party grooming several leaders. “It’s but natural for people to be disappointed when they don’t find their names in the list.”

Besides MPs, the BJP has selected 11 candidates who were either third or fourth in the previous assembly polls. Only two of them had fought on a BJP ticket while the rest were either independent or BSP nominees and had bagged a sizable vote share.

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