Lok Sabha elections | Rajasthan: Congress replaces candidates in Rajsamand, Bhilwara

Two days after he expressed his “surprise” at being nominated by the party from Rajasthan’s Rajsamand Lok Sabha seat, Sudarshan Rawat was replaced by the Congress with Damodar Gurjar.

Interestingly, Gurjar was earlier fielded from Bhilwara, where the party has now fielded former Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi.

On March 27, Rawat had said that his name was announced even though he had repeatedly expressed his inability to contest the election and that he got to know about his candidature through social media.

In a letter to party state president Govind Singh Dotasra, Rawat, 51, had said that even though he had repeatedly expressed his disagreement over his candidature, his name was proposed by a top party leader from Mewar region who kept the party leadership in the dark. Without naming the leader, Rawat had termed the leader’s actions as ‘inappropriate’. CP Joshi, now fielded from Bhilwara replacing Damodar Gurjar, is said to have been that leader.

Joshi had lost from Nathdwara Assembly seat in the Assembly elections last year to Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, of the erstwhile Mewar royal family. Vishvaraj’s wife, Mahima Vishweswar Singh, who has been fielded by the BJP from Rajsamand, will now face Gurjar.

Gurjar is the chairman of Dev Group of Colleges in Jaipur. He was also a member of the Devnarayan Board in the Gehlot government. Joshi, a Congress party veteran, is a five term MLA and one time MP. He was also the Assembly Speaker in the previous Ashok Gehlot government.

While Congress party has declared candidates on 24 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats from Rajasthan, it is yet to declare its candidate for the tribal seat of Banswara, which it is said to be considering leaving for the Bharatiya Adivasi Party (BAP).