Bharatiya Janata Party leader and a close confidant of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Yunus Khan, has sprung a surprise with his decision to contest the Rajasthan Assembly election from his traditional seat, Deedwana. Mr. Khan, a former Minister, has filed his nomination papers after parting ways with the BJP.
The BJP had denied ticket to Mr. Khan in its third list of candidates, released last week, and fielded Jitendera Singh Jodha, who had lost to Chetan Dudi of Congress by a margin of 40,602 votes in the 2018 election, in his place. Mr. Khan, the BJP’s lone Muslim candidate in 2018, had unsuccessfully contested against Congress’s Sachin Pilot in Tonk.
Mr. Khan was seen as being sidelined within the BJP despite having a good clout among Muslims, Jats and Rajputs in Deedwana, which now forms part of the newly created Deedawana-Kuchaman district. The BJP has not fielded a Muslim candidate at any of the 200 Assembly seats in the State this time.
