NEW DELHI: BJP leader Jaswant Singh is learnt to be upset with the party over not announcing his name as a candidate from Barmer Lok Sabha constituency, his hometown, amid indications that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje wants Jat leader Col Sonaram, who quit Congress to join BJP, to be fielded from there.
Sources said Singh has spoken to party President Rajnath Singh, expressing his desire to contest his “last” election from Barmer, the candidate for which has not been announced yet.
“He has said that he is anguished that his name has not been announced yet,” a party leader said.
Singh could not be reached for comments and his office declined to comment on reports that he has threatened to fight as an independent if not given the ticket. Party sources, however, said they were trying to prevail over the former union minister.
Singh’s son Manavendra is a BJP MLA from Rajasthan.
Raje is not keen on Jaswant Singh as she believes Sonaram, who has won Lok Sabha elections from there a few times, will be a better candidate from the constituency while the senior BJP leader has not been very active in the state.
Party Spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman played down reports of Jaswant’s threat, saying party leaders have aspirations at the time of elections and there is nothing wrong about it.
Singh had contested and won the last election from Darjeeling. In recent comments, he has said he wanted to fight what could be his last election from his hometown.
The party’s Central Election Committee had yesterday announced names of 21 candidates out of a total 25 Rajasthan constituencies.–PTI
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