Rajasthan: BJP Announces First List of Lok Sabha Candidates; 8 Sitting MPs Retained, 2 Congress Defectors Included

In the first list of 15 Lok Sabha candidates from Rajasthan, the BJP repeated eight of its sitting MPs including three union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Kailash Choudhary and Loksabha speaker On Birla from their respective seats. Union minister Bhupinder Yadav who was a Rajya Sabha MP will now contest from Alwar. This seat was vacant as the MP from this seat Baba Balaknath is now an MLA from Tijara. 

2 Congress leaders get ticket

BJP has given tickets to two leaders from Congress. Dr Jyoti Mirdha has been given a ticket from Nagair and Mahendra Jeet Malviya from Dungarpur-Banswara. Jyoti Mirdha had joined BJP before the assembly elections while Malviya resigned from the post of MLA a few days ago and joined BJP from Congress.

BJP has cancelled the tickets of four MPs namely Rahul Kaswa from Churu, Devji Patel from Jalore, Arjun Lal Meena from Udaipur and Ranjita Koli from Bharatpur. Sitting MP from Jalour Dev ji Patel has also been replaced as he was fielded in the assembly election but lost the seat. 

In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had won all 25 seats in Rajasthan. In 2019, BJP had left the Nagaur seat for Hanuman Beniwal's party RLP as part of the alliance, Hanuman Beniwal won the election. This time the BJP has fielded Jyoti Mirdha from here. 

Former CM Vasundhara Raje's son Dushyant Singh has got the ticket for the fifth time from the Jhalawar-Baran seat, while BJP state president CP Joshi has also been repeated from Chittorgarh.