JAIPUR/LUCKNOW: After much dilly-dallying, the Congress declared its first list of 152 candidates past Thursday midnight. The first list included names of party state president Sachin Pilot from Tonk, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot from Sardarpura (Jodhpur), former Union minister C P Joshi from Nathdwara, Girija Vyas from Udaipur and leader of opposition Rameshwar Dudi from Nokha (Bikaner) seats.In another development, the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal are learnt to have sealed an alliance for Rajasthan assembly elections. Out of the 200 seats, Congress is expected to give SP three seats while RLD will field candidates in two.Congress eyes 2019 Lok Sabha pollsJaipur/Lucknow: NCP and Sharad Yadav’s Loktantrik Janata Dal are likely to be part of this alliance and could contest on three other seats.With an aim to prepare ground for 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the state, the party has fielded all its top leaders in the assembly polls. Senior leaders like Ajmer MP Raghu Sharma (Kekri, Ajmer) and ex-MP Raghuveer Singh Meena (Salumber-ST) have been given tickets.Of its 25 MLAs, the party has repeated 19. Two MLAs Ghanshyam Mehar and Heeralal have been dropped. MLA Narayan Singh has been replaced by his son Virendra. Candidates have not been declared in the constituencies of Vishvendra Singh (Deeg-Kumher) and Pradhyumn Singh (Rajakhera). Nine Muslim and 19 women candidates have been nominated in the first list.Contrary to claims about not fielding “parachute candidates”, the party has given tickets at least four candidates who joined the party recently. These include Harish Meena (Deoli-Uniara), Habib Ur Rehman (Nagaur), Shimla Bavari (Raisinghnagar) and Khanhaiya Lal Jhawar (Bikaner East). Jhawar joined Congress just minutes before the first list was declared.Sources said that in keeping with the grand alliance, Congress has agreed to give SP the assembly seats of Behror and Tijara in Alwar district , while the contest in Rajgarh/Lakshmangarh will be a “friendly” one between SP and Congress.

Stay updated with all the Latest Ajmer headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.