BJP declares 4 more candidates for Rajasthan, fields Diya Kumari from Rajsamand

The BJP on Saturday announced names of four more Lok Sabha poll candidates for Rajasthan, which included Diya Kumari, a member of the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur.

Fielded from Rajsamand parliamentary seat, where polling will be held in the fourth phase on April 29, Kumari would be fighting the Lok Sabha polls for the first time. She had represented Sawai Madhopur Assembly constituency during the last BJP rule in the state and had refused to contest the state elections in 2018.

Hariom Singh, the sitting MP of Rajsamand refused to contest this time citing health reasons.

With Saturday's list, the BJP has declared its nominees in 23 out of the 25 parliamentary seats in Rajasthan. It has announced alliance with RLP leader Hanuman Beniwal on Nagaur seat whereas suspense continues on Dausa parliamentary seat.

The party renominated sitting MP Manoj Rajauriya from Karuali-Dholpur seat and pitted Kailash Chaudhary against former BJP leader Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh in Barmer.

Chaudhary had represented Baytoo Assembly constituency during Vasundhara Raje's chief ministership and this is his first Lok Sabha election as a candidate.

Another new name in the list is Ranjeeta Kohli, the daughter-in-law of former MP Gangaram Kohli, who has been nominated by the BJP from Bharatpur Lok Sabha seat. She will also contest the parliamentary election for the first time.

The BJP has so far announced only two women candidates in the state and didnot give tickets to four sitting MPs.

Apart from Hariom Singh, who did not want to contest the elections this time, the other sitting MPs who have been denied tickets are C R Chaudhary from Nagaur, Sona Ram from Barmer and Bahadur Singh Kohli from Bharatpur.

BJP leaders claim that the party is finding it difficult to finalise candidate for the Dausa seat due to rivalry between Rajya Sabha member Kirodi Lal Meena and Independent MLA Om Prakash Hudla.