In September, the 54-year-old Rajput leader had quit the BJP and joined the Congress with a parting shot, "Kamal Ka Phool, Hamaari Bhool"
JAIPUR: Manvendra Singh, son of former BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh, who recently joined the Congress party, will challenge chief minister Vasundhara Raje in the forthcoming state elections from Jhalrapatan.
Raje is a three-time MLA from Jhalrapatan.
On Saturday, the Congress released its second list of 32 candidates for Rajasthan assembly elections, which will be held in the single phase on December 7.
In the last elections in 2013, the BJP had won a majority in the 200-seat Rajasthan assembly.
In September, the 54-year-old leader had quit the BJP with a parting shot, "Kamal Ka Phool, Hamaari Bhool" (lotus was my mistake).
He was the member of the 14th Lok Sabha from 2004-2009, representing the Barmer-Jaisalmer constituency of Rajasthan.
Manvendra father Jaswant Singh, 80, has been in coma since 2014, when he suffered a fall.
Jaswant Singh was a Cabinet minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, but was denied a BJP ticket during the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Singh parted ways with the party and contested as an independent candidate.
"I'm ready for the challenge," Singh said and warned that people of Rajasthan will take revenge from the BJP for insulting Rajput leader Jaswant Singh.
While the main contest in Rajasthan is between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and other smaller parties are also eyeing a good share of seats.
Earlier this week, Congress had released its first list of 152 candidates for Rajasthan after much delay. Both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were given tickets and are pitched as the strongest claimants for the chief minister's chair from within the Congress.
The Congress hopes to encash Rajput votes by bringing in Manvendra Singh. Rajputs impact about 50 of the state's 200 seats and hold 26 of them.
The shift in Rajput votes cost the BJP in by-elections in February, in which the ruling party lost two parliamentary and one assembly seats.
There are 34 SC and 25 ST seats out of the total 200 seats in Rajasthan Assembly.
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