Why did Congress leave Sikar seat for Left, Who is CPM candidate Amra Ram
Taking a lesson from the assembly elections, Congress has left one seat for CPM in Rajasthan, where the CPM declared farmer leader Comrade Amra Ram as its candidate from Sikar Lok Sabha seat under the INDIA Alliance.
Ajeet Singh
Even though the Left has fielded a candidate against Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, Kerala, Congress has left one seat for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Rajasthan, where the CPM has declared farmer leader Comrade Amra Ram as its candidate from Sikar Lok Sabha seat under the INDIA Alliance. His contest is against BJP candidate Sumedhanand Saraswati, who is a two-time MP from Sikar.
Amra Ram is a well-known name of farmers movement and left politics in Rajasthan. Amra Ram, a four-time MLA, is currently the National Vice President of All India Kisan Sabha and State Secretary of CPM. His image is that of a leader who fights on the ground with great simplicity, although he had to face defeat from Dantaramgarh in the 2023 assembly elections.
Sikar has been identified as a Left-influenced area in Rajasthan. Amra Ram has been MLA from Sikar's Dhod assembly seat three times and from Dantramgarh once. But gradually the Left's hold weakened and the Left could not even open its account in the state in the 2023 assembly elections. Amra Ram from Dantaramgarh stood third. Congress also had to face a crushing defeat in the state.
Taking a lesson from the assembly elections, Congress has decided to give one seat to CPM under the INDIA alliance in the Lok Sabha elections. However, this decision was taken late. Many political analysts are also linking this decision to the internal tussle within the state Congress. Congress has 5 out of 8 assembly seats in Sikar district. Therefore, Congress is not able to digest giving this seat to CPM. In such a situation, this seat will be a tough test for the INDIA alliance. Arya SamajI Sumedhanand will face leftist Amra Ram.
Sikar is the home district of Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara. He is an MLA from Laxmangarh seat of Sikar district and there was speculation about his contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Sikar. But neither did he contest the election himself nor did Congress make any of its leaders a candidate from Sikar. Congress youth leader Sitaram Lamba was also a contender for the ticket from Sikar.
On one hand, there is a dilemma regarding the alliance of Hanuman Beniwal with RLP on Nagaur seat, on the other hand, Congress surprised everyone by giving Sikar seat to CPM. It is said that due to the opposition of the state Congress leaders, no agreement has been reached with Hanuman Beniwal till now. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is trying for this but Jat leader of Congress is not in favor of alliance with Beniwal.
Congress has already created turmoil in the politics of Shekhawati by giving ticket to Rahul Kaswan, the BJP MP from Churu. This is the only area of Rajasthan where communal polarization is less and farmer movements have had an impact. Perhaps that is why Congress has tried to mobilize anti-BJP voters by giving Sikar seat to the Left. However, Congress's claim from Sikar was considered stronger than CPM .
Congress on Thursday announced five more candidates from Rajasthan for the Lok Sabha elections, including AICC secretary Kuldeep Indora from Ganganagar, Urmila Jain, wife of former minister Pramod Jain Bhaya, from Jhalwad -Baran seat and Sunil Sharma, owner of a private university from Jaipur city. Ticket has been given to Sangeeta Beniwal from Pali and Umeda Ram Beniwal, who left Hanuman Beniwal's party from Barmer.
Rajasthan, which has 25 Lok Sabha seats, will vote in two phases on April 19 and April 26. In the 2014 and 2019 elections, BJP had won all 25 seats in Rajasthan. The challenge before Congress is to stop BJP from scoring a hat-trick of Mission 25.
