Congress picks BJP rebel to take on Birla

Tribune News Service

Neeraj Mohan

New Delhi, March 26

The Congress sprung a surprise in Rajasthan by fielding BJP rebel Prahlad Gunjal against outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, making Kota an interesting contest in the desert state.

With the latest list, the Congress has made its position clear on 24 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state, leaving two for allies — Nagaur for the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and Sikar for the CPI(M). The party is yet to declare its candidate for the tribal seat of Banswara, which it is said to be considering leaving for the Bharatiya Adivasi Party (BAP).

From Kota, the BJP has repeated Birla, who had defeated Ramnarain Meena of the Congress in 2019 by a margin of nearly 2.80 lakh votes. In 2014 too, Birla had defeated Ijyaraj Singh of the Congress by two lakh votes. Before 2014, the Kota constituency had witnessed straight fight between Congress and the BJP. Meanwhile, nearly three months after he was elected to the state Assembly from Khinswar, former BJP ally Hanuman Beniwal (RLP) will contest the election as INDIA bloc candidate from Nagaur.

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