After MP, BJP may field Union ministers in Rajasthan poll

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda started discussions with the party's Rajasthan leadership on Wednesday on the upcoming state Assembly polls, amid a buzz that two central ministers might be asked to contest.

The speculation follows the party's decision to name three Union ministers and four other MPs in its second list of candidates for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, also due by the year-end.

Shah and Nadda arrived in Jaipur on a special plane on Wednesday evening and headed to a hotel near the airport where the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) core committee meeting started.

"The meeting of the core committee is continuing at the hotel," sources in the party said.

Union minister and the BJP's election in-charge for Rajasthan Pralhad Joshi, co-in-charge Nitin Patel, the party's in-charge for Rajasthan Arun Singh, state president C P Joshi, Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Kailash Chaudhary, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Rajendra Rathore, Deputy Leader of Opposition and former state president Satish Poonia and other leaders were present at the meeting, which is likely to continue till late, the sources said.

They added that Union Jal Shakti Minister Shekhawat and Law Minister Meghwal might be fielded in the Assembly polls due in months, along with some other MPs.

BJP leaders said ticket distribution and other poll-related issues are being discussed at the meeting.

"They would also discuss the feedback received from the four parivartan yatras held in the state by the party," one of them said.

Nadda and Shah are scheduled to meet local Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders on Thursday morning, the sources said.

BJP's national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh is also in Jaipur.

Earlier, former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Joshi and other leaders welcomed Shah and Nadda at the Jaipur airport.

The visit by Shah and Nadda follows a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi near Jaipur on Monday to mark the completion of the yatras that touched all 200 Assembly constituencies in the state.

The BJP is now planning events focusing on youngsters, farmers and women.

Hours before the visit, a group of people from the Ajmer South constituency staged a protest at the BJP office here against MLA Anita Bhadel.

"There is resentment among the party workers against the MLA and she should not be given a ticket for the polls," Shravan Kumar, a protester, told reporters.