Rajasthan election 2018: Congress completes its list, BJP names 24 more candidates

Both main parties in Rajasthan moved closer to finalising their line-ups on Sunday. The Congress put out its third and fourth candidate lists, while the Bharatiya Janata Party announced a fourth list naming 24 candidates ahead of the December 7 vote.

The BJP’s fourth list

Jaipur mayor Ashok Lahoty was handed the closely watched Sanganer seat. The Congress had earlier chosen Manvendra Singh, a rebel from the BJP, to take on Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in Jhalrapatan. In what was seen as a reply, the BJP turned to a former royal family of Kota that had once backed the Congress: it nominated Kalpana Singh, the wife of former Congress MP Ijyaraj Singh, for Ladpura. Experts said the choice was also meant to firm up Rajput support for the party.

Three more Congress leaders who switched to the BJP on Sunday also received tickets. The list dropped sitting MLAs in seven seats and introduced 17 new faces. With it, the BJP had named candidates for 194 of the 200 seats in the state.

The Congress lists

Seeking to unseat the BJP, the Congress set aside seats for allies: three each for Sharad Yadav’s Loktantrik Janata Dal and Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal, and one for Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party. After Sunday’s announcements the party had candidates in place for all 200 seats, with 113 new faces in total.

The third list brought in two former ministers and left out one. It replaced earlier picks in Bikaner (East), Bikaner (West) and Kesoraipatan, making room in Bikaner (West) for BD Kalla, a former minister and a past head of the state Congress. Alwar MP Karan Singh Yadav, who won a parliamentary by-election in February, was fielded from Kishangarh Bas.

In the fourth list, the party again changed its nominees for Bikaner (East) and Mavli and added a new name, Ajay Bohra, for Mahuwa. That list contained seven new faces.

What happened next

In the December 7 vote, held in 199 seats, the Congress emerged as the largest party with 99 seats against the BJP’s 73, and Ashok Gehlot became Chief Minister.

See also: State election results

Originally published on 19 November 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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