Shanti Dhariwal, a loyalist of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, has been given a ticket from the Kota North seat in the upcoming assembly polls. However, Dharmendra Rathore, another key loyalist and confidante of Mr. Gehlot, has once again been overlooked. The Congress party, which aims to break the revolving door tradition in the state, announced its seventh list of 21 candidates for the November 25 polls. So far, the party has revealed 172 candidates for the 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan.
Despite seeking a ticket from the Ajmer North constituency, Mr. Rathore has been replaced by Mahendra Singh Ralawata as the Congress candidate. Last year, Mr. Rathore, Mr. Dhariwal, and another senior state leader, Mahesh Joshi, received notices from the party’s disciplinary committee. They had led a group of rebels who opposed Sachin Pilot as the Chief Minister, advocating for Mr. Gehlot to become the party president instead. During a Legislature Party meeting called by the party’s central leadership, Mr. Rathore and Mr. Dhariwal held a parallel meeting with MLAs, refusing to attend. Mahesh Joshi has already been denied a ticket for the assembly polls.
In the 2018 elections, the Congress won 99 seats, while the BJP secured 73 seats in the 200-member house. Ashok Gehlot formed the government with the support of BSP MLAs and independents.
