The 200-member Rajasthan Assembly will go to polls on November 25 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 3.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has announced the Congress’ seven ‘guarantees’ if it retains power in the state –
-
An annual honorarium of Rs 10,000 to women head of family,
-
Cooking gas cylinders at Rs 500 to 1.05 crore families,
-
Purchase of dung from cattle rearers at Rs 2 per kg,
-
Law for old pension scheme for government employees,
-
Laptop or tablet to students taking admission in government colleges,
-
Insurance cover up to Rs 15 lakh per family to compensate losses due to natural calamity and
-
School education in English medium.
The party has announced its candidates for 198 seats, out of a total of 200. One seat — Bharatpur has been left for the Rashtriya Lok Dal. The Congress candidate from Rajasthan’s Karanpur assembly constituency, Gurmeet Singh Koonar, died at the AIIMS in Delhi last week. He was 75.
Koonar, who was the sitting MLA from Karanpur, was admitted to the Geriatric Medicine Ward of the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi on November 12.
Koonar died of sepsis with septic shock and renal disease, according to the death certificate issued by the hospital. He was also suffering from hypertension. He had been fielded by the party from the seat against BJP leader Surendra Pal Singh.
Citing Section 52 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, an Election Commission (EC) official explained that if a candidate fielded by a recognised state or national party dies before a poll, then the returning officer ‘adjourns’ the poll on that seat ‘to a date to be notified later’.
According to Section 52 (2) of the Act, the EC then asks the recognised political party, whose candidate has died, to nominate another candidate within seven days of being asked to do so.
An official of the election office in Rajasthan told PTI that “the election on the Karanpur seat will be adjourned due to the demise of the candidate. A fresh date of polling will be notified by the Election Commission.”
Congress has fielded Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot from Sardarpura and his former deputy Sachin Pilot from Tonk. The party has fielded Archana Sharma from Malviya Nagar and Pushpendra Bharadwaj from Sanganer.
Speaker C P Joshi will contest from his Nathdwara assembly seat and Congress state unit president Govind Singh Dotasra from Lachhmangarh. Former minister Harish Chaudhary will contest from Baytoo and minister Mamata Bhupesh from Sikrai-SC seat.