Amit Shah, JP Nadda Hold Marathon Meeting With Rajasthan BJP Leaders

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda held a marathon meeting on Tuesday with party leaders from Rajasthan, including former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, as part of an exercise to finalise the names of its remaining candidates for the November 25 state Assembly polls. Besides Ms Raje, Union ministers Pralhad Joshi, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Arjun Ram Meghwal and Rajasthan BJP president C P Joshi were among those who attended the meeting that went on for nearly six hours.

Mr Joshi is the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) election in-charge for Rajasthan.

The meeting was followed by Mr Nadda and Mr Shah holding another round of deliberations with party leaders from Madhya Pradesh, including Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

The saffron party has so far named 41 candidates, including seven MPs, for the election to the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly and 136 nominees, including three Union ministers and four other MPs, for the November 17 polls to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly.

There is a view that the BJP may also field some Union ministers, including Mr Shekhawat and Mr Meghwal, in Rajasthan.

Amid a show of discontent by a section of its workers and those ignored for poll tickets in Rajasthan, the party leadership has taken measures to soothe frayed nerves, with Mr Nadda meeting a large number of BJP functionaries in the state during his visit on Monday.

That some of the contenders not fielded by the party are seen to be close to Ms Raje has given rise to the speculation that she may be miffed but "maharani", as she is called by many supporters due to her royal lineage, has not publicly aired any critical view.

Earlier, Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, a descendant of celebrated Mewar king Maharana Pratap Singh, and Bhawani Singh Kalvi, son of Karni Sena founder Lokendra Singh Kalvi, joined the party in the presence of Mr Joshi, Mr Meghwal, MP Diya Singh, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh and its chief spokesperson, Anil Baluni.

The BJP has sought to reassure Rajputs after Narpat Singh Rajvi, a five-time MLA and the son-in-law of party stalwart Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, hit out at the leadership following a denial of ticket this time.

The BJP is looking to defeat the incumbent Congress in Rajasthan and retain power in Madhya Pradesh, where it is locked in a keen contest with the Congress.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)