Rajasthan bypolls: BJP, Congress announce candidates for Alwar, Ajmer and Mandalgarh; by-election to be held on 29 Jan

Jaipur: The ruling BJP and Opposition Congress in Rajasthan on Sunday announced their candidates for the 29 January by-polls to the Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha seats and the Mandalgarh Assembly constituency. The BJP fielded labour minister Jaswant Singh Yadav and former Union minister Sanwar Lal Jat’s son Ramswaroop Lamba for the by-polls to the Alwar and Ajmer Lok Sabha seats respectively. Shakti Singh Hada is the BJP’s choice for the Mandalgarh Assembly constituency. The bypolls to all the three seats will be held on 29 January. [caption id=“attachment_4264151” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The Congress announced Vivek Dhakad will be its candidate for the by-poll to the Mandalgarh Assembly constituency. Former MLA Raghu Sharma will be its nominee for the Ajmer Lok Sabha seat. The Congress has already named Karan Singh Yadav, a former MP, as its candidate for the by-election to the Alwar Lok Sabha seat. The by-polls have been necessitated following the death of Ajmer MP Sanwar Lal Jat, Alwar MP Chand Nath and Mandalgarh MLA Kirti Kumari. Sanwar Lal Jat had defeated Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot by 1,71,983 votes in the 2014 general elections. Jat had in July last year suffered a cardiac arrest during a BJP meeting in Jaipur chaired by party chief Amit Shah. He died on 9 August. Mahant Chand Nath had died in September after a prolonged illness. He had defeated Congress candidate and former Union minister Bhanwar Jitendra Singh by 2,83,895 votes. Mandalgarh MLA Kirti Kumari had died in August.