The Aryavarth Express
Agency(Rajasthan): In a surprising development, Sudarshan Rawat, the Congress candidate from Rajasthan’s Rajsamand seat, has announced his decision to withdraw from the Lok Sabha election race. Rawat, a former Congress MLA, was nominated as the party’s candidate from Rajsamand on Monday.
Speaking to PTI, Rawat confirmed that he had written to the state Congress chief, expressing his inability to contest the elections. He said, “I have written to the state Congress chief, expressing my inability to contest the elections. The party is certainly considering my request to change the candidature.”
In his letter to the state Congress chief, Rawat mentioned that he was not prepared to contest the election and that the chance should be given to a young candidate. He cited the party’s defeat in the assembly elections last year, despite the public welfare works done by the Congress government, as one of the reasons for his decision.
Rawat stated, “After the defeat in the last assembly elections, I neither have the moral nor logical right to contest the Lok Sabha elections nor did I have any strategic preparation for it. I am also scheduled to go abroad for the next two months for business purposes. Therefore, a young and interested person should be made a candidate.”
The former MLA revealed that his name was proposed by a top leader of Mewar, despite him being on a foreign tour and repeatedly disagreeing to contest the polls. He expressed his surprise upon receiving the news of his candidature through social media on the evening of March 25.
Rawat reiterated his request to the top leadership of the Congress to give a chance to a capable and interested candidate in his place. The BJP has fielded Mahima Vishweswar Singh, a member of the erstwhile royal family of Udaipur and wife of BJP MLA Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, from Rajsamand, where polling will be held in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls on April 26.
The decision by Sudarshan Rawat to decline the Congress Party’s nomination has added an unexpected twist to the political landscape in Rajsamand. The party will now have to quickly find a suitable replacement candidate to contest the Lok Sabha polls in the constituency. The development also highlights the challenges faced by political parties in selecting candidates who are not only capable but also willing to contest elections.