Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018: BJP first list out, 131 get Amit Shah nod

The BJP declared its candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in Rajasthan in 131 out of 200 seats. The first of the BJP lists sees the return of 85 sitting legislators, including some of the party heavyweights and ministers in the state cabinet.

The list was declared after a meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah in New Delhi on Sunday.

CM TO CONTEST FROM SAME SEAT

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is contesting from her seat Jhalrapatan in Jhalawar. Her name features among the 12 women who have made it to the first list of BJP candidates released late on Sunday night. Raje contests the seat which she has now been winning for the last two decades. Her decision to contest the same seat also rubbishes the reports that she was looking to switch her constituency.

The party dropped 25 of the 160 sitting legislators. Those who made it past the finish line included second-in-command in Raje government, home minister Gulab Chand Kataria, urban development and housing minister, Srichand Kripalani, education minister Vasudev Devnani, agriculture minister Prabhulal Saini, parliamentary affairs minister Rajendra Rathore and social justice and welfare minister Arun Chaturvedi. Higher education minister Kiran Maheshwari retains her seat, Rajsamand, from where the BJP has kick-started its poll campaign in Rajasthan.

Speaker of the Assembly, Kailash Meghwal has also been given another shot at the polls. He contests the Shahpura (SC) seat reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate.