BJP releases sixth list of candidates for Rajasthan polls

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday released its sixth list of three candidates for the Rajasthan, which is going to polls on November 25. The party has fielded Girraj Singh Malinga, a Congress MLA from Bari who joined the BJP on Sunday, from Bari.

Deepak Kadvasra will contest from Barmer and Arun Amraram Chaudhary from Pachpadra. The list was shared by the party's National General Secretary, Arun Singh on Monday morning. On Sunday, supporters of former Rajasthan BJP president Arun Chaturvedi staged a protest after at party headquarters in Jaipur after he was denied a ticket when the party released another list of 15 candidates.

The party gave election ticket to Gopal Sharma from Civil Lines instead of Chaturvedi. Union Minister and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat attempted to pacify the protesters after speaking with them.

On Sunday, the supporters of the former BJP Rajasthan unit president, Ashok Parnami, protested after he was also denied a ticket. The party fielded Ravi Nayyar from Adarsh Nagar instead of Parnami, a former MLA. The protesting supporters alleged that the party has banned BJP workers. In another development, BJP expelled its Rajasthan unit leader Sandeep Dayma over his controversial remark on Gurdwara.

The decision to expel Dayma was announced by Onkar Singh Lakhawat, the chairman of the Rajasthan BJP's disciplinary committee. "Sandeep Dayma has been expelled from the party on the direction of the state president for making a statement against the ideology of the party," the notification released by the party said on Sunday.

In the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress won 99 seats while the BJP won 73 seats in the 200-member house. Ashok Gehlot came to power with the support of BSP MLAs and independents.

Rajasthan will go to polls on November 25, the counting of which will take place on December 5 along with four other state assembly elections.