BJP, Congress file nominations amid deadline-day chaos

 Jaipur: The deadline for filing nominations for civic polls in Rajasthan ended on Monday after a hectic final-day rush, with the BJP announcing its Jaipur candidates only hours before the deadline, and Congress candidates filing papers without the party making the list public.

The Congress’s strategy kept unsuccessful aspirants guessing until the nomination window closed, giving potential rebels little time to enter the contest as independents.

The BJP released candidates for Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota and Ajmer municipal corporations in the final stages of the nomination process. In Jaipur, the BJP announced candidates for 145 of the 150 wards, while for the remaining five candidates, the party used Congress’s approach of filing papers without a formal announcement of candidates. Confusion over the BJP candidate in Ward 76 in Jaipur added to the drama on the final day.

The party had named former deputy mayor Puneet Karnawat as its candidate from the ward. However, Malviya Nagar MLA Kalicharan Saraf handed the party authorisation for the election symbol to Kuldeep Mishra, who filed his nomination as the BJP candidate. Karnawat also filed his nomination and maintained that the party had selected him for the ward.

BJP state president Madan Rathore later intervened and the party authorisation was restored in Karnawat’s favour, according to party sources. Pressure surrounding ticket distribution was evident on both parties. The BJP had received around 2,500 applications for Jaipur’s 150 wards alone. Among its prominent Jaipur candidates is former mayor Jyoti Khandelwal from Ward 110. Khandelwal, a former Congress leader, joined the BJP during the 2023 Assembly elections.

In Ward 112, the BJP denied a ticket to outgoing mayor Kusum Yadav and fielded former state vice-president Sunil Kothari. The announcements triggered disappointment among unsuccessful aspirants, with a woman breaking down after being denied a ticket. She alleged that those who worked for the party on the ground were being overlooked in favour of people who indulged in sycophancy.