Raje, Union ministers Raj campaigning

Even before releasing the second list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the BJP formally kicked off its election campaign by holding the "Vijay Sankalp Yatra" in all 25 Lok Sabha constituencies, with four Union ministers participating in it.

Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vijay Goel , Arjun Ram Meghwal, along with former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, addressed public rallies at different places, seeking support for the BJP as part of the yatra, which aims to cover the entire state in the next three days.

In her maiden rally ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, BJP vice president Vasundhara Raje attacked the Congress during her address in Bagru.

"The Congress party has been exposed in front of public. Even after three months of governing the state, the Congress could hardly made any difference in Rajasthan," she said.

Raje was campaigning for BJP leader Ram Chandra Bora, who has been declared the Jaipur Urban candidate by the party.

According to BJP state president Madan Lal Saini, the party will cover the entire state through a series of meetings to connect with the voters, which will conclude on March 27.

The party has started its campaign in Rajasthan even before declaring the names of the candidates for the nine constituencies of Churu, Barmer, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Rajsamand, Nagaur, Dausa and Banswara seats.

The party, in its first list on March 23, declared 16 candidates but is yet to declare its nominees. According to party insiders, the delay in the announcement of the candidates is because there are more possible candidates in each seat.

Rajasthan will go to the polls in two phases.

In the first phase on April 29, elections will be held on 13 seats. On May 6, the second phase of the elections will be held on 12 seats.

In 2014, the BJP made a historic win by sweeping all 25 seats in Rajasthan. However, later, in the 2018 bypolls, the saffron party lost two seats to the Congress.