Jaipur: With the Aug 31 nomination deadline nearing, BJP and Congress are set to announce their first lists of candidates for the urban local body elections late Friday evening, with both preparing for possible rebellion from aspirants denied tickets.
Party workers at Congress war room
Congress has identified wards where it anticipates resistance and plans to deploy senior members to pacify disgruntled aspirants. BJP has tasked its MLAs with managing those left out and is considering organisational and political appointments to prevent them from contesting against party nominees.“Almost 80% of the total 10,245 seats have been cleared through consensus. The names will be announced at the district level late in the evening so that candidates can file their nomination forms Saturday, the second day of the process,” Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi said.BJP has also cleared around 90% of its candidates, but is waiting for Congress to announce its nominees in some wards before finalising its own, party sources said. The move is aimed at identifying possible Congress rebels who could be fielded by BJP.“Like always, there will be rebel candidates who will file nomination forms. Our strategy is to reach out to those who are serious. Those who were in the panel but do not get tickets will be assured positions. There are at least 5,000 such posts vacant,” a BJP functionary said.Congress is preparing to contain rebellion by offering organisational roles and future political appointments to denied aspirants who back the party’s official candidates. Party seniors are banking on the prospect of forming govt in 2028 to persuade rebels to stay with the organisation.Both parties continued discussions till late Thursday night as they finalised candidate lists. Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma held a meeting with senior BJP members at the party office after midnight to review the selections. On the Congress side, PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra signed party symbols for candidates, which were dispatched to district units from Friday morning for filing of nominations.
