Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh among 40 BJP 'star campaigners' for Rajasthan bypolls; Sachin Pilot named in Congress' list

Jaipur: The BJP and Congress on Thursday announced their list of star campaigners for the by-elections due in Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha constituencies and Mandalgarh (Bhilwara) Assembly constituency on 29 January. To launch an aggressive campaigning in the poll-bound constituencies, the BJP declared a list of 40 star campaigners, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah, Union home minister Rajnath Singh, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. [caption id=“attachment_4298765” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The list released by the state BJP office also includes names of Union ministers Piyush Goyal, CR Chaudhary, PP Chaudhary, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, organisation secretary Ram Lal, national joint secretary of the organisation V Satish, MP Dushyant Singh and his wife Niharika Raje, MP Arjun Meena and other ministers of the Raje government. Surprisingly, the name of Ajmer MLA and state school education minister Vasudev Devnani has not been mentioned in the list. On the other hand, the Congress too announced its list of 40 star campaigners to set the poll pitch on fire. The top campaigners of the party include national general secretary Avinash Pande, Ashok Gehlot, CP Joshi, Mohan Prakash, state Congress chief Sachin Pilot, leader of opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Rameshwar Dudi, national secretary Vivek Bansal, Qazi Mohd Nizamuddin, Devendra Singh Yadav, RPCC former president Girija Vyas, Narayan Singh, BD Kalla, Chandrabhan besides names of some former ministers and party office bearers. Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha constituencies and Mandalgarh (Bhilwara district) Assembly seat are going to bypoll due to the deaths of Ajmer MP Sanwar Lal Jat, Alwar MP Chand Nath and Mandalgarh MLA Kirti Kumari (all of BJP) in 2017.