Jaipur: Vasundhara Raje, former Rajasthan chief minister, was among the 83 candidates announced by BJP to contest in the upcoming state assembly elections. Ms Raje will contest from her traditional Jhalrapatan seat.
Ms Raje has been at loggerheads with Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and has not been visible in BJP's election blitz yet. The two leaders have not been close ever since Ms Raje opposed Mr Shekhawat's appointment as BJP chief in Rajasthan in 2018 saying it would distance the jaat community from the party in the 2018 elections.
Ms Raje being sidelined in BJP's first list of candidates had drawn sharp reactions from the opposition. But in a move that is seen as an attempt to balance political equations, several of Ms Raje's supporters also feature in BJP's new list.
But after the party's Central Election Committee meeting on Friday, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president JP Nadda, BJP has decided to bank on the popularity of Ms Raje, who is accepted across the different voter bases in the state.
Vasundhara Raje comes from the Scindia royal family, the former rulers of Gwalior, now in Madhya Pradesh. Her mother Vijayaraje Scindia was a prominent leader in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) and later in the BJP. Her brother Madhavrao Scindia was a prominent Congress leader.
In its second list, BJP also fielded Narpat Singh Rajvi from Chittorgarh from Vidhyadhar Nagar seat after its earlier decision to deny the five-term MLA. Mr Rajvi is the son-in-law of its stalwart leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and his name missing from the first list triggered a backlash from a section of party workers.
The BJP leadership's U-turn on his candidature is being seen as a damage-control exercise after Mr Rajvi reacted angrily and cited his family legacy to hit out at the party.
Elections will be held in the five crucial states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram between November 7 and 30, and the results will be declared on December 3, the Election Commission said. All 200 seats in Rajasthan will see voting on November 25.
In the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress won 100 seats, while the BJP had 73. The Congress finally formed the government, and Ashok Gehlot was installed as Chief Minister, after support from the Bahujan Samaj Party, which claimed six seats.