Discontent over Congress lists in Rajasthan; MLA quits Commission’s post

Ruling Congress in Rajasthan announces 156 candidates for Assembly election; Baseri MLA Khiladi Lal Bairwa resigns as chairperson of State SC Commission in protest. Seven sitting MLAs dropped in two lists released. Bairwa, a loyalist of former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, demands more "teeth" for SC Commission. Other MLAs denied tickets, stage protests in Jaipur, Churu, Bikaner and Sriganganagar.

Amid the discontent over the lists of 156 candidates announced by the ruling Congress for Rajasthan Assembly election so far, Baseri MLA Khiladi Lal Bairwa on Wednesday resigned as chairperson of the State Scheduled Castes Commission. A total of seven sitting MLAs were dropped in the two lists released on Tuesday.

Mr. Bairwa, considered a loyalist of former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, was replaced with Sanjay Kumar Jatav in the constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes in Dholpur district. Mr. Jatav, an engineer by profession, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Karuli-Dholpur seat.

Mr. Bairwa, a former Congress MP, has sent in his resignation letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge, while pointing out that the State government had failed to give a statutory status to the SC commission, making its functioning ineffective and giving rise to dissatisfaction among the Dalit communities.

The MLA said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot should give a guarantee for providing more “more teeth” to the commission, in addition to the seven guarantees which had recently been announced. “The denial of ticket could be a result of speaking the truth. I was among the people who were loyal to the party and did not resign as MLA during the Congress Legislature Party [CLP] issue last year,” Mr. Bairwa said.

Also Read: Will indefatigable Gehlot be able to make up for voters’ fatigue with Congress legislators in Rajasthan?

Some other MLAs have raised a question over the role of observers appointed by Congress for the Assembly election. Bharat Singh Kundanpur, dropped at Kota district’s Sangod seat, questioned how AICC secretary and co-incharge for Rajasthan Qazi Nizamuddin could select and field Bhanu Pratap Singh from the seat, as the new candidate was not even a resident and a voter in the Sangod constituency.

However, Mr. Kundanpur, 73, had earlier announced that he would not contest the election in view of his advanced age. He was promoting two local leaders, Kushal Pal Panahera and Pooja Singh Kamolar, as potential candidates, as they had raised the public issues in the constituency while serving as Block Congress presidents.