Main contest in North India will be between BJP, Congress: Sachin Pilot

Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Wednesday exuded confidence in the names announced by the party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and stated that the candidates who have a good chance of winning have been given the opportunity.

On the announcement of ten congress candidates in Rajasthan's second list, Pilot said that after careful study by the AICC (All India Congress Committee), winning candidates have been fielded from Rajasthan.

Pilot emphasized the Congress' optimism for the upcoming elections, citing instances of sitting Lok Sabha MPs from Haryana and Rajasthan leaving the BJP to join Congress. He mentioned that the main contest, especially in north India, will be between Congress and BJP.

"A sitting Lok Sabha MP in Haryana left BJP and joined Congress. In Rajasthan too, a sitting Lok Sabha MP left the BJP and joined Congress. So, sitting MLAs and MPs are coming to us. Former legislators are going to BJP. So, people should understand this. People who are accepting the Congress ideology and expressing trust in our leadership are being welcomed to the party and given an opportunity. I am happy that party has given opportunity to people on the basis of their performance and commitment to the party. I have visited several states, and a good atmosphere for the INDIA Alliance is forming" Sachin Pilot said.

On Rajasthan MP Rahul Kaswan jumping ship and joining the Congress ahead of elections, Pilot said it is a good thing that current BJP MPs have joined their party after considering the long history and ideology of their party.

Criticizing the BJP, Pilot said that the "Bharatiya Janata Party talks about crossing 300 or 400 seats, but if they were so confident, why do they need to bring opposition members into their party and contest elections? He sees that they say one thing but their actions suggest otherwise. If they are so confident, then why the need to bring our former ministers, former MPs, and MLAs into their party?"

When asked about the question of former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son being given a ticket from Jalore-Sirohi despite losing the previous election from Jodhpur in the 2019 General elections, Sachin Pilot said that "In politics, defeats and victories continue, and whatever ticket distribution has happened, it has been done by the central leadership of the Congress party. The party has, looked at the region, and also considered the demand of the public. Whoever contests from wherever will contest with strength, and the entire party will unite and fight the elections together," he said.

The Congress party on Tuesday announced the second list of 43 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in which some prominent names including Kamal Nath's son Nakul Nath, Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot and Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi have been mentioned.

Among the ten names announced from Rajasthan, Rahul Kaswan who joined Congress after quitting BJP has been fielded from Rajasthan's Churu, Brijendra Ola from Jhunjunu, Lalit Yadav from Alwar, Sanjana Jatav from Bharatpur, Harish Chandra Meena from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Karan Singh Uchiyarda from Jodhpur.

Vaibhav Gehlot, the son of former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has been fielded from Jalore Lok Sabha seat. The party has also fielded Tarachand Meena from Udaipur and Udaylal Ajana has been given a ticket from Chittorgarh.