A day after nomination papers were filed, both Congress and BJP have declared list of star campaigners to garner support for their candidates in bypolls slated for January 29 in Ajmer, Alwar Lok Sabha seats and Mandalgarh assembly constituency.
The list of campaigners are suggestive of how important the bypoll is for both the parties. Interestingly both the parties have shortlisted candidates suitable to woo the voters looking at the caste equation.
Top campaigners on whose popularity BJP plans to register victory include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, National President of BJP Amit Shah, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal. Four union ministers from Rajasthan- Arjun Meghwal, PP Choudhry, CR Choudhary and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat have also been included. As many as 13 ministers of the Raje cabinet would be campaigning for the party.
On the other hand Congress's kitty includes former chief minister Ashok Gehlot; Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot; AICC general secretaries- CP Joshi, Mohan Prakash, Avinash Pandey, leader of Opposition Rameshwer Dudi. Other leaders include AICC secretaries- Vivek Bansal, Nizamuddin Mohammad Qazi, Devendra Singh Yadav, Tarun Kumar, Harish Choudhary, Zuber Khan, former RPCC presidents-Girija Vyas, Narayan Singh, BD Kalla, Chandrabhan and former ministers- Namonarayan Meena, Jitendra Singh, Mahadeo Singh Khandela, Lal Chand Kataria, Shanti Dhariwal and Pramod Jain Bhaya.
However while BJP has Narendra Modi on the the top of the list, the name of AICC president Rahul Gandhi is missing from the Congress's list of campaigners. When asked why AICC president Rahul Gandhi is missing from the list, a senior congress leader told DH, "Rajasthan has witnessed bypolls twice since 2013 assembly elections and Gandhi did not campaign in either of them. We are confident that we will manage a victory and BJP is known for bringing Modi everywhere".
To give a tough competition to Congress in Ajmer where Gujjars are in good numbers and influenced by Pilot, BJP has roped in Niharika Raje, daughter-in-law of chief minister Vasundhara Raje as a star campaigner. Niharika belongs to a Gujjar family and will also campaign in Mandalgarh to influence 8,000 Gujjar voters for assembly bypolls. Apart from her, Raje's son Dushyant Singh, MP from Dholpur will also campaign for all three seats.
The bypolls will be held on January 29, following the death of two BJP parliamentarians -- Sanwar Lal Jat from Ajmer and Mahant Chandnath from Alwar seat -- last year. And the assembly seat of Mandalgarh fell vacant after MLA Kirti Kumari died while being treated for swine flu in 2017.
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