With winnability as BJP's criterion, 10 sitting MPs of Rajasthan jittery about getting repeated

Jaipur: With the BJP fielding new faces on seven Lok Sabha seats in the first list of 15 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan, the remaining sitting MPs are apprehensive about the feedback the party high command might have regarding their winnability.

With winnability being the paramount factor for the party in order to secure all 25 seats in the upcoming elections, the fate of the remaining 10 incumbent MPs hangs in balance.

In the first list announced on Saturday, the BJP retained eight sitting MPs and gave tickets to new faces on seven seats. Two of the seven seats were vacant after the sitting MPs won the 2023 assembly elections.

Candidates for Bikaner, Churu, Sikar, Alwar, Bharatpur, Nagaur, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran have been declared in the first list while announcement of tickets for Ajmer, Bhilwara, Dausa, Ganganagar, Jaipur, Jaipur Rural, Jhunjhunu, Karauli-Dholpur, Rajsamand and Tonk-Sawai Madhopur is awaited.

The BJP had won 24 seats and its alliance partner Hanuman Beniwal of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) won Nagaur seat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This way, the NDA had won all 25 seats.

Beniwal's RLP is no longer an NDA partner and he himself is an MLA at present.

In the 2014 LS elections, the BJP had won all 25 seats on its own.

The BJP, in the first list, has retained all three Union ministers - Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Jodhpur), Arjun Meghwal (Bikaner) and Kailash Choudhary (Barmer) as well as Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla (Kota-Bundi), BJP state president CP Joshi (Chittorgarh), Sumedhanand (Sikar), P P Chaudhary (Pali) and Dushyant Singh (Jhalawar-Baran).

Sitting MPs whose tickets have been cut are Rahul Kaswan (Churu), Ranjeeta Koli (Bharatpur), Devji Patel (Jalore), Arjun Lal Meena (Udaipur) and Kanakmal Katara (Banswara) while Alwar and Nagaur seats were vacant after BJP's Baba Balaknath and RLP's Hanuman Beniwal won assembly elections in December last year.

Differences between two-time Churu MP Rahul Kaswan and former leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore were palpable and it is believed that the former has been denied a ticket because of the infighting. He was blamed for Rathore's defeat in the assembly elections.

Kaswan has been replaced by newcomer and paralympic gold medalist Devendra Jhajhadia on Churu seat while Devji Patel, who lost the 2023 assembly elections, was replaced by Lumbaram Choudhary.

Similarly, Jyoti Mirdha, who joined the BJP from the Congress before the assembly elections last year, got ticket from the vacant seat of Nagaur. Other new faces who got ticket are Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya (Banswara), Mannalal Rawat (Udaipur) and Ramswaroop Koli (Bharatpur).

Former Congress minister Malviya had also joined BJP recently.

On the Alwar seat, which fell vacant after Baba Balaknath won the assembly elections, the party has given ticket to Rajya Sabha MP and Union minister Bhupender Yadav.

"Winnability is the only criterion for the party to decide the ticket. The party has set the target of winning all 25 Lok Sabha seats in order to ensure that NDA crosses 400 seats," a senior party leader said.

"To determine winnability, individual MP's performance under various criteria has been assessed through feedback from different levels including surveys. Based on that, the exercise of ticket finalisation has been done. The same formula will apply to candidates on other seats as well," he said.

Party sources said a decision on the remaining seats would be taken this week.

Two of the remaining 10 seats, Jaipur Rural and Rajsamand, are lying vacant ever since BJP MPs Rajyavardhan Rathore and Diya Kumari won the assembly elections. New faces will be given tickets on these seats.

At the same time, Ajmer MP Bhagirath Chaudhary and Jhunjhunu MP Narendra Kumar had lost assembly elections and chances are high that they will be replaced.

Former leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore and former deputy leader of opposition Satish Poonia had lost the assembly elections and they are likely to get a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections. Speculations are rife that Rathore might get ticket from Rajsamand and Poonia could be fielded from Ajmer or Jaipur Rural.

When contacted, a sitting MP said, "Ticket selection is done by the party high command on the basis of several facts and, therefore, it is for the party to decide the ticket."