Jaipur: Even as the Congress is putting all its might into winning all four of the assembly by-polls slated to be held next month, the names of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Assembly Speaker Dr CP Joshi's sons have cropped up as possible candidates.
Party insiders say that Gehlot’s son Vaibhav’s name is being considered for the Rajsamand seat while Joshi’s son Himanshu could fight for the Sahada seat in Bhilwara district.
Vaibhav has visited Rajsamand four times in the last month and the Congress sees a good chance of winning the seat. In the recent urban local body election, the Congress had wrested the municipal council from the BJP and formed its board after almost 30 years.
Vaibhav had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Jodhpur, his father's constituency. However, he was defeated by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat of the BJP in a high-stakes electoral battle.
Dr Joshi who represents the Nathdwara constituency in Rajsamand is politically influential in the Rajsamand and neighbouring Bhilwara districts. He played an important role in the Congress’s good performance in the local body elections in the region.
By-polls are to be held on four seats – Rajsamand, Sahada, Sujangarh and Vallabhnagar. The election has been necessitated due to the demise of the four sitting MLAs. Three of the seats were with the Congress while the Rajsamand seat was with the BJP.
Congress sources say the party is almost sure to give tickets to the kin of the decease MLAs. The frontrunner on the Sujangarh seat is the son of late MLA Bhanwarlal Meghwal while the party wants to give the ticket from Vallabhnagar to the wife of late MLA Gajendra Singh Shaktawat.
The party has appointed ministers, MLAs and party functionaries as in-charges on all four seats. Directions have been issued that work in the constituencies going for by-polls must be taken up and completed on a priority basis.
In the state budget too, the highest number of road projects have been sanctioned for Sahada and Rajsamand. While 54 road projects were sanctioned for the state, 17 of these worth Rs 94 crore were sanctioned for Rajsamand and 19 road projects were sanctioned for Bhilwara district. Six road projects were sanctioned for Churu within which the Sujangarh assembly constituency falls and three were sanctioned for Udaipur district within which the Vallabhnagar constituency falls.
