Jaipur, March 22 (IANS) Annoyed at not being considered from Rajasthan's Barmer seat, senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh is likely to contest the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from the constituency, sources close to him said Saturday.
He is slated to come to Barmer in a couple of days and seek feedback from local supporters and leaders before filing his nomination papers.
Sources said that if he was given a go-ahead by his supporters, he will contest the elections.
Jaswant Singh represented Darjeeling in the outgoing 15th Lok Sabha.
He wanted to fight election from Barmer this time, but the party fielded Colonel Sonaram, who recently switched to the BJP from the Congress.
Following strong protests from some BJP party workers against denial of BJP ticket to Jaswant Singh, a meeting was held at the home of former union minister's son Manvendra Singh Friday night.
His supporters in Barmer chalked out a strategy to field him as an independent.
Some workers even took out a protest rally and burnt effigies of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje holding her responsible for denial of the ticket to Jaswant Singh. They also shouted slogans against her.
"Colonel Sonaram had been with Congress for years. Now he has switched loyalties and joined BJP. Fielding him immediately after joining BJP has sent a wrong message to the voters. He should have made to work in the organisation at least for some years before he was given such an opportunity," said a local BJP leader.
If Jaswant Singh decides to contest, he may upset the equations against Sonaram as there are at least 1.5 lakh Rajput voters in Barmer constituency.
"He has influence over voters from other castes also, so Jaswant Singh will definitely make life difficult for the BJP candidate," said Vijay Sharma, a political analyst.
Voting for the 25 parliamentary constituencies in the state will take place April 17 and 24. In the last elections in 2009, the Congress won 20 seats and the BJP four, while one seat was won by an Independent.
Jaswant Singh hails from Jasol village in Barmer district.
He was member of the union cabinet during the NDA government.
Salaar 2: Shooting of Salaar 2 is going to start soon, know when the film will hit the theatres.
The duo of Pan India superstar Prabhas and director Prashant Neel made a huge splash with the fil
UN Secretary-General stresses establishing peace in Ukraine, says war cannot be the solution
On the completion of one year of the Ukraine war, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that
Corona figures in the country have again given relief. On Tuesday, 71869 new cases came, 81945 pa
Kejriwal arrested Delhi Police rejects AAP claim, shows 'evidence'
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged that ever since Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has come to
India objects to Sri Lanka's justification of firing
New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) India said Monday that it had "strongly objected" to Sri Lankan Prime
The speed of corona infection in the country is continuously decreasing. For the past few days, t
Mukhtar Ansari's party to support Congress in Varanasi Against Modi & Kejriwal
Lucknow, April 29 (IANS) The Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED) of Mukhtar Ansari Tuesday extended support to
Former Sri Lankan captain requests ICC, BCCI and SLC, says - check World Cup 2011 for Sachin
Sri Lankan veteran batsman and former captain Arvinda de Silva has refuted claims made by Ministe
Ghaziabad, March 17 (IANS) After taking power in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided t
Badrinath highway in Uttarakhand closed after snowfall
Dehradun, March 9 (IANS) The Badrinath highway was closed due to to heavy snowfall in Uttarakhan
