As soon as the BJP released its third list of candidates for the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly polls, two names stood apart — Ajit Singh Mehta and Mahendra Singh Rathore. The BJP has fielded its state spokesperson and a professor to take on Rajasthan Congress’ tall leaders — Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot in Tonk and Sardarpura.
Ajit Singh Mehta is a state spokesperson of the BJP. He was a former MLA from Tonk and has been fielded to try his luck against Pilot. Born in Tonk, Mehta is a son of the soil. In 2013, when he won the elections from Tonk, he defeated his nearest candidate — an Independent — Said Saidi by a margin of more than 30,000 votes.
In his early days, he also headed the district BJP in Dausa.
According to his 2013 election affidavit, Mehta has passed Class 10. Impressively, he did not have a single criminal case against him at that time. The same affidavit reveals he has an automobile business and his wife has a business in auto parts.
After his name was announced by the BJP, his followers distributed sweets, chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’. “I will not allow this constituency to be divided on caste lines… Cadres will work hard to bring a golden phase,” Mehta said.
Rathore to Take On Gehlot
Rathore, a Rajput professor, has been part of the Rajasthan Council of Ministers. He has also headed the Jodhpur Development Authority (JDA). But now he is aiming big by contesting against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Soon after his name was announced by the BJP, Rathore took to social media to post, “Sankalp Atal, Isliye Vote Kamal”.
Earlier, after resigning from JDA in 2018, he started working at the Jai Narayan Vyas University as a professor of business finance and economics. He has also done a Ph.D. on ‘Price and Distribution Control in a Planned Economy’ in the Cement industry.
What remains to be seen is whether the two BJP candidates have it in them to take on Congress’ stalwarts and script history in Rajasthan.
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