The Bharatiya Janata Party on arch 2 announced 15 candidates, including eight sitting MPs, for the Lok Sabha election in Rajasthan in its first list released in New Delhi. The party gave tickets to two veteran leaders who switched over from Congress recently, besides fielding five new faces in the State.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will contest the election again from Kota, BJP State president C.P. Joshi from Chittorgarh, and Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Kailash Choudhary from Jodhpur, Bikaner and Barmer, respectively. Rajya Sabha Member and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav has been fielded from the Yadav-dominated Alwar constituency, forming part of the National Capital Region.
Veteran tribal leader Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya and Jat leader Jyoti Mirdha, who crossed over from Congress to the BJP, have been given tickets in the constituencies where they wield a significant influence. Mr. Malviya, who was a Minister in the previous Congress regime, will contest the polls from Banswara, and Ms. Mirdha, who was elected to Lok Sabha in 2009 as a Congress candidate, will fight from Nagaur.