Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023: BJP Releases Third List Of 58 Candidates

The BJP on Thursday released its third list of candidates for the November 25 Rajasthan assembly elections.

The party has fielded Mahendra Singh Rathore from the Sardarpura assembly seat against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. BJP leader Ajit Singh Mehta will contest the polls from Tonk against Gehlot's former deputy and Congress leader Sachin Pilot.

Balmukand Acharya has been fielded from Hawamahal, a seat for which the Congress is yet to announce a candidate.

BJP national general secretary and Rajasthan in-charge Arun Singh released the list in New Delhi.

In the third list, the BJP has fielded seven women candidates and renominated eight sitting MLAs.

The sitting MLAs are Rampratap Kasaniya from Suratgarh, Madan Dilawar from Ramganj Mandi, Pabbaram Vishnoi from Phalodi, Puraram Choudhary from Bhinmal, Narayan Singh Dewal from Raniwada, Arjun Lal Jingar from Kapasan, Chandrakanta Meghwal from Keshoraipatan and Kalpana Devi from Ladpura.

The BJP has given tickets to Subhash Meel from Khandela, Darshan Singh from Karauli and Uday Lal Dangi from Vallabhnagar. They joined the party in Delhi a day ago. Meel and Singh joined the BJP from the Congress and Dangi from the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP).

Earlier, the BJP in two lists had announced 124 candidates.

In the second list, the party named 83 candidates including former chief minister Vasundhara Raje from her traditional Jhalrapatan seat. Of the 83 candidates in that list, 10 are women. Some of the supporters of Raje, including two former state ministers, were also given tickets.

Former state BJP chief Satish Poonia has been fielded from Amber, the seat he currently represents in the Assembly. Rajendra Rathore, the BJP's leader in the Assembly, has also been given a ticket. However, his constituency has been changed from Churu to Taranagar.

Former Nagaur MP Jyoti Mirdha, who joined the BJP last month, has been fielded from Nagaur. So far, the party has fielded candidates for 182 of the 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan.

(With PTI inputs)