Independent candidates are a headache in Sheo

NEW DELHI

The 200-seat Rajasthan Assembly is witnessing a tough fight between the BJP and Congress. Both parties

claim to be returning to power in the state. The Sheo constituency in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district is also witnessing a tough fight. A close fight is there among the five candidates contesting on the seat, out of which one candidate each are from Congress and BJP, and three independent candidates, two of whom parted ways from the BJP and one from Congress as they were denied tickets by both Congress and BJP. The Congress has fielded incumbent MLA Amin Khan, a five-time MLA, from the same seat. The BJP has fielded Swaroop Singh Khara, replacing Khuman Singh, who lost to Khan in the 2018 Assembly elections. Amin Khan of Congress, aged 80, is the eldest candidate to be fielded in the Assembly elections. He was demanding a ticket for his son, which was declined. However, Fateh Khan, a three-time district president of Congress, was also asking for a ticket from the Congress. After the announcement of Amin Khan, Fateh Khan filed his nomination as an independent candidate.

The ticket distribution in the BJP, too, was not smooth. Three candidates were demanding tickets, but the BJP trusted its district chief, Swaroop Singh, as its candidate. This announcement was not liked by many, including Khuman Singh, the candidate in the last election, ex-MLA Jalam Singh, and Ravinder Bhati, who joined the BJP recently. Bhati is a popular youth leader in the area and served as President of Jai Narayan Vyas University, Jodhpur. The announcement of its candidate by the BJP resulted in Bhati filing his nomination as an independent candidate. Another BJP leader and ex-MLA from Sheo joined the RLP and is contesting on the RLP symbol.

Congress-BJP fight in Osian
There is a direct fight between the Congress and BJP in the Osian constituency, which lies in the Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. Congress has retained incumbent MLA Divya Maderna, daughter of Mahipal Maderna, a strong Congress leader, while the BJP has also retained Bhera Ram Choudhary, who lost to Divya in the last election.
The caste equation has taken a front seat, while development projects have taken a back seat in Osian. It has been won by the BJP twice, in 2003 and 2013, when there was a direct contest between the BJP and Congress. In this election, the contest is not triangular, unlike the last election, which would make the BJP’s candidature stronger in the Congress dominated seat since 1977, said a native person of Osian.