Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra to take on CM Vasundhara in Rajasthan

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 17

Manvendra Singh, the son of estranged BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh, will challenge Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in the upcoming state elections.

Singh was fielded as a candidate from Jhalrapatan Assembly seat in Jhalawar by the Congress which declared its second list of 32 candidates today.

The Congress has now declared 186 names for the December 7 elections in which it is challenging the ruling BJP.

Manvendra Singh had recently joined the Congress accusing the BJP of arrogance and vanity. He also said he was joining unconditionally.

Manvendra currently represents Sheo segment from the BJP but he quit the saffron brotherhood recently accusing the BJP of insulting his father and other Rajputs.

Jaswant Singh, a Minister in the NDA Government led by AB Vajpayee, had been denied a BJP Lok Sabha ticket from Barmer segment in 2014. He consequently contested as an Independent against BJP’s Col Sonaram Choudhry and lost.

The BJP has this time fielded Choudhry from Barmer Assembly seat which is a Congress stronghold.

‘No other candidate’

Raje Saturday waved aside Manvendra Singh’s nomination against her saying it was done because Congress couldn’t find any other candidate.

"The Congress could not find any candidate and he (Manvendra Singh) was to be given ticket from somewhere and therefore, he was sent here (Jhalrapatan)," Raje said addressing the public after filing her nomination papers in Jhalawar district.

"But they should know that it is not a fight of one person, this is a contest fought by Jhalawar and Rajasthan, which is a family," she said.

The chief minister was accompanied by party leader Shahnawaz Hussain, her son and Jhalawar MP Dushyant Singh, among others. With agencies