Congress fields Prahlad Gunjal against Om Birla from Kota

JAIPUR: The Congress on Monday announced four more candidates from Rajasthan for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding Prahlad Gunjal from Kota to take on outgoing Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla.

Gunjal joined the Congress in Jaipur only on Thursday in the presence of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra.

Ajmer dairy federation chairman Ramchandra Chaudhary was given the ticket from Ajmer, former MLA Sudarshan Rawat from Rajsamand and local party leader Damodar Gurjar from Bhilwara.

Gunjal, a close aide of former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, was the MLA from Kota North twice earlier but had lost the last assembly polls. He is seen as a very vocal leader and with his arrival, the Congress is expected to benefit in Hadouti region.

Meanwhile the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) announced on Monday that its convener Hanuman Beniwal will contest the upcoming Lok Sahha elections from Rajasthan’s Nagaur seat as an INDIA bloc candidate.

The Congress, which is also part of the opposition INDIA bloc, on Saturday announced candidates for two more Lok Sabha constituencies in Rajasthan but left Nagaur seat for the RLP.