Rajasthan Assembly Election 2023: From Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Diya Kumari to Jairam Jatav, List of Key Candidates of BJP and Their Constituencies

Jodhpur, October 17: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is eyeing to make a comeback after losing Rajasthan in the 2018 state assembly election. Keeping that in mind, the party earlier this month released a list of 41 candidates for the Rajasthan Assembly Election 2023 with the same formula they used for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh polls. The BJP has fielded seven of its parliamentarians. The list includes Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari and Jaipur Rural MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. While Diya Kumari will fight the elections from Jaipur's Vidhyadhar Nagar constituency, Rathore will be contesting from Jhotwara, also in Jaipur district.

However, protests erupted in faction-ridden BJP Rajasthan unit after the release of the first list. While the party fielded seven MPs on seats considered “weak,” the list did not include some prominent names such as former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Narpat Singh Rajvi, son-in-law of former CM Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, and Rajpal Singh Shekhawat, a Raje loyalist. The party is trying hard to douse the fire with its state unit. Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2023: Growing Number of BJP Rebels in State Worries Central Leadership.

Key Candidates of BJP and Their Constituencies

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

A retired colonel, an Olympic medal winner, and a two-time Member of Parliament, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has been fielded from the Jhotwara assembly seat in Jaipur. Taking up politics after retiring from the Indian army and shooting, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won his first election and became an MP in the 2014 Lok Sabha election from the Jaipur Rural seat. He again won in 2019 from Jaipur Rural. He has been trusted with multiple portfolios in both Modi Governments. Congress-Led INDIA Block Will Adopt Rajasthan, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh Models of Governance at Centre, Says Rahul Gandhi.

Diya Kumari 

Diya Kumari is a BJP Member of Parliament from Rajsamand since 2019. The party has called her back to state politics, naming her candidate from Jaipur's Vidhyadhar Nagar constituency. Kumari is the granddaughter of Man Singh II, the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jaipur during the British Raj in India.

Dr Kirodi Lal Meena

Popularly known as Kirodi Baba in East Rajasthan, Kirodi Lal Meena is a Rajya Sabha MP. He was also a Lok Sabha MP of the 9th and 15th Lok Sabha. Moreover, he is a five-time MLA, representing various assembly seats. He will enter the fray from the Sawai Madhopur assembly seat in the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly Election 2023. He has been in the Bharatiya Janata Party since the beginning, however, he briefly left it in 2008 but rejoined it in 2018.

Jairam Jatav

A two-term MLA, Jairam Jatav, represents the Jatav community in Rajasthan. He is currently representing the Alwar Rural Vidhan Sabha constituency of Rajasthan. The BJP leader, when he was named as candidate for upcoming polls, faced criticism from his own daughter, who went on to say that she would fight against him.

Sanjeev Beniwal

Sanjeev Beniwal is a long time member of BJP, having a won assembly elections in 1998 and 2013. Sanjeev Beniwal was involved in movements and protests in support of student’s rights during his college days. The Bhartiya Janata Party has fielded Beniwal from Bhadra assembly seat again for upcoming elections.

The Rajasthan assembly elections will take place in a single phase on November 23. The counting of votes for the 200-member assembly will take place on December 3.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 17, 2023 06:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).