On Friday, the Congress party made a significant change in its lineup for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls by nominating Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi to contest from the Bhilwara parliamentary constituency, a move that replaced its earlier candidate, Damodar Gurjar.
This decision came alongside the announcement of the party's ninth list, which included three candidates and two replacements for the forthcoming elections.
In light of this development, Damodar Gurjar, the previous contender for the Bhilwara seat, has now been shifted to contest from the Rajsamand constituency, replacing Sudarshan Rawat, who withdrew his candidature citing personal reasons in a letter addressed to the party’s state president.
With this adjustment, the Congress has finalized its candidates for 22 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan. Notably, it has allocated two seats, Sikar and Nagaur, to the CPI (M) and RLP respectively, as part of the INDI alliance, leaving only the announcement for the candidate from the Banswara seat pending.
Rajasthan will conduct its Lok Sabha elections in two phases. The first phase, scheduled for April 19, will witness voting in 12 constituencies, while the remaining 13 seats will go to polls in the second phase on April 26.
Additionally, a bypoll for the Bagidora assembly constituency, falling under the Banswara Lok Sabha constituency, is slated for the second phase on April 26. This bypoll became necessary after Congress MLA Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya defected to the BJP, triggering the vacancy. Malviya is now contesting the Lok Sabha election from the Banswara seat as a BJP candidate.
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