Congress may drop three sitting MPs

JAIPUR: Congress may drop three of the sitting Lok Sabha members following the changed political situation owing to delimitation of constituencies and other political compulsions.
The Congress won just four seats out of 25 from the state in the last Lok Sabha elections. Sachin Pilot representing Dausa seat, Union minister and Jat leader Sis Ram Ola from Jhunjhunu, Namonarayan Meena from Sawai Madhopur and Karan Singh from the Alwar have been a saving grace for the Congress.Apart from delimitation, the poor showing of the party candidates in the just-concluded Assembly elections have made the Congress leadership to rethink whether to field them.
According to Congress sources, the party fared very badly in the constituencies represented by the Congress MPs. Karan Singh Yadav, who contested the Bheror assembly segment, was trounced in the elections and his renomination from Alwar is considered to be dim.
Following the delimitation, two of the sitting members had to look for alternative seats as their constituency profiles have changed. Sachin's Dausa seat has been reserved for the ST, while Union minister of state for environment Namonarayan Meena's Sawai Madhopur ST seat has become a general seat. While Sachin is planning to shift to Ajmer, the option for Namonarayan Meena has been made difficult by another Meena leader Kirorilal Meena staking his claim for the Dausa seat. The enmity between the two Meenas is well known.
Following the party's failure to muster an absolute majority in the assembly elections, Congress had to seek the help of Kirorilal Meena to form the government. Taking advantage of the Congress' predicament, Kirorilal demanded his pound of flesh from the Congress high command. He made it known that he plans to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Dausa as an Independent candidate in order to emerge as the undisputed leader of the Meenas. Since both the Meena leaders are on the same side, the Congress choice is quite difficult and they may have to put up Namonarayan Meena from a general seat.
While Congress may field AICC secretary Jitendra Singh in place of Karan Singh from Alwar, age may come in the way of Congress veteran and Union minister Sisram Ola from getting another chance. However, his chances depend on getting a proper replacement, say Congress sources.