Rajasthan Elections: Congress pits Jaswant Singh's son against Vasundhara Raje from Jhalrapatan seat

Days ahead of the much crucial Rajasthan Assembly Elections, Congress party on Saturday released its second list of candidates.

Former BJP MLA Manvendra Singh is among the 32 candidates announced by the party on the day. (Image: PTI)

Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018: Days ahead of the much crucial Rajasthan Assembly Elections, Congress party on Saturday released its second list of candidates. With an aim to uproot the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state, Congress has petted Manvendra Singh, the son of BJP veteran and former Union Minister Jaswant Singh, against Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in her traditional Jhalrapatan seat. Former BJP MLA Manvendra Singh, who recently joined the Congress, is among the 32 candidates announced by the party on the day. Jhalrapatan in Jhalawar district has been sending Raje to the Assembly since 2003. Manvendra Singh who represented Sheo constituency in Barmer, quit the state's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in September, upset over the sidelining of his father in the party ever since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections The Congress, in its first list of 152 candidates, released on November 16, fielded both its chief ministerial aspirants - Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot. While two-time Chief Minister Gehlot is contesting from his traditional Sardarpura seat, Pilot is in the fray from Tonk. The party has also fielded former Union Ministers C.P. Joshi and Girija Vyas for the Nathdwara and Udaipur Assembly seats. Polls for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly will be held on December 7 and the results will be declared on December 11. It has given tickets to five former MPs, including Narendra Budania, Raghuvir Meena and Harish Chowdhary. Two sitting MPs have also been fielded by the party, including BJP MP Harish Meena, who joined the Congress on Tuesday. He will contest from Deoli-Uniara. Ajmer MP Raghu Sharma has been fielded from Kakri. Another BJP turncoat, MLA Habibur Rahman has been fielded from Nagaur. Rahman joined after the Bharatiya Janata Party denied him a ticket. Five more Muslim candidates have been given tickets. They are Zakir Hussain from Makrana, Naseem Akhtar from Pushkar, Ameen Kagzi from Kishanpole, Saleh Mohammed from Pokaran and Ameen Khan from Sheo. The party has denied tickets to three sitting MLAs -- Ghanshyam Mehar from Todabhim, Narayan Singh from Dataramgarh and Hiralal from Jhadol.