Rajasthan Bypolls: 4 Candidates Withdraw in Alwar, 3 in Ajmer

In Alwar, four candidates have withdrawn their names, leaving 19 in the competition.

Candidates in Alwar and Ajmer constituencies in Rajasthan have withdrawn from the election race, just two weeks before the bypolls are scheduled to take place.

The by-elections will be conducted on 29 January after the death of Ajmer MP Sanwar Lal Jat, Alwar MP Chand Nath and Mandalgarh MLA Kirti Kumari left these respective seats empty. The counting of votes will be held on 1 February 2018.

Three candidates withdrew their names for the Ajmer by-polls on 16 January, leaving 23 candidates in the fray. Whereas in Alwar, four candidates have withdrawn their names, leaving just 19 in the competition.

“A total of 30 candidates had filed nomination for the by-polls in Ajmer. However, four nominations were rejected during scrutiny of forms,” Hindustan Times quoted Gaurav Goyal, the returning officer, as saying.

Goyal further told HT that since there are more than 16 candidates, two EVMs would be needed for every booth, as one machine can accommodate a maximum of 16 names.

Now, we have to make arrangements for more EVMs and have to increase the numbers of strong rooms to keep them after elections. We have asked election commission to send more machines; we have got some and some are on their way.

Gaurav Goyal, returning officer

Shadi Khan, Upen Yadav, Ashwani Bhardwaj and farmer leader Ram Pal Jat let go of their nominations as of Monday in Alwar, leaving BJP’s Jaswant Yadav, Congress’ Karan Singh Yadav and nine Independents in the fray, according to the HT report.

Names of candidates who have pulled out of the race in Ajmer have not been confirmed yet.

Congress Alleges SP’s Hand in BJP Campaign

Another development on Monday was that Congress filed a complaint at the election office alleging that Jaipur rural’s Superintendent Police (SP) was working as an agent for BJP’s local candidate, Ramswaroop Lamba.

The SP, Rameshwar Chaudhry, under whose area Dudu falls, has been charged with threatening Congress workers to frame them in false cases if they do not slowdown their campaign, the Congress alleged in its complaint, according to HT.

“He (Chaudhary) is acting as a BJP agent and is influencing people to vote in favour of BJP candidate Ramswaroop Lamba,” HT quoted Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, the Congress spokesperson in Rajasthan, as alleging.

We demand election commission to remove Chaudhary on two grounds: One, Chaudhary is acting as a BJP agent, and two, he is in the area for over three years now. It is a violation of the norm as no officer with a tenure of three years or more can stay during the election.

Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Congress spokesperson in Rajasthan

The Congress spokesperson also said that other ministers of the state government in Ajmer are putting pressure on the officials in their respective departments to convince people in their locality to vote for the BJP, HT further reported.

In another scenario, an independent candidate, Shiv Bhagwan, reported that he received a call threatening him to withdraw his name from the poll fray.

“Someone called me on my mobile and threatened to kill me if I did not withdraw my name,” HT quoted Bhagwan as saying. “I have submitted a complaint to the SP with the number from which the call was made,” he said.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times.)

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