Jaipur:

A controversy has erupted over a video in which Congress leader Archana Sharma, who is said to be in the race to get a party ticket for the upcoming assembly polls, is purportedly speaking about a party “rival” striking up a “Rs 40-crore deal” to “stop her”.

Speaking to PTI, Ms Sharma, who is the chairperson of the Social Welfare Board, said she has not named anyone in the video.

After the video surfaced on social media, Congress leader Rajiv Arora, in a veiled attack at Ms Sharma, said, “You can never win by playing dirty”.

Ms Sharma, who is said to be eyeing a Congress ticket from Malviya Nagar constituency, responded saying Mr  Arora was targeting her due to a “misunderstanding”.

In the video, Ms Sharma is purportedly telling a group of people that a “rival within the party” held a meeting with her “rival”, indirectly referring to the sitting BJP MLA from Malviya Nagar constituency.

“When my rival felt that he was losing, he thought of making an alliance with my rival within the party, and both had a meeting in a hotel. But walls have ears. It came out that a deal worth Rs 40 crore has been made. Such a big deal to stop me,” Ms Sharma is heard saying.

BJP MLA Kalicharan Saraf has been representing the Malaviya Nagar seat since 2008.

Ms Arora, who is the chairperson of the Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation and Export Promotion Council, is among the Congress leaders vying for a ticket from the Malviya Nagar Assembly constituency, and is said to be lobbying in Delhi ahead of the announcement of the list of candidates.

After the video emerged, Rajiv Arora wrote on X on Wednesday evening, “You can never win by playing dirty. Karma is real. You reap what you sow. The ill-will of taking ticket even after losing twice is hurting the Congress party from Malviya Nagar.” 

When contacted, Ms Sharma said she had not named anyone at the gathering.

“Rajiv Arora is like my elder brother. I did not name anyone. When he contested the election from this seat, I supported him. He should also support me,” she said.

Polling for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly will be held on November 25, and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 3. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The BJP Headquarters in New Delhi is all set to see a flurry of activity on Wednesday evening, with thousands of party workers gathering to accord a grand welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the successful G20 Summit. 

India’s hosting of the prestigious summit and the fact that it managed to achieve a consensus on the New Delhi Declaration is being seen as a major diplomatic victory. The country’s successful presidency of the G20 and its championing of the issues of Global South have also strengthened its case for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council. 

The Prime Minister will get down to electoral business right after the welcome and take part in the BJP’s Central Election Committee meeting to decide on candidates for the crucial Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections.

The committee had also met on August 16 and candidates were announced for 39 constituencies in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and 21 in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh a day later. These were seats where the BJP does not have sitting MLAs.

Sources said Wednesday’s meeting is likely to see deliberations on 50 constituencies in Madhya Pradesh and 35 in Chhattisgarh. Madhya Pradesh has 230 Assembly seats and Chhattisgarh has 90. 

The other members of the committee include BJP President J P Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. 

The naming of the candidates in August, which was done three months ahead of the polls in the states, had taken many people by surprise as it was the first time that the BJP had announced a list even before the Election Commission of India had declared the poll dates.

The move was seen as an attempt to pre-empt any friction within the party and iron out issues ahead of the elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram. This is especially important as the party had lost in all the states in 2018, except Mizoram, where an NDA ally had formed the government with the BJP as a minor partner. 

The party had bounced back in the Lok Sabha elections the next year, sweeping Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and doing better than the Congress in Telangana. It also managed to unseat the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh, following the rebellion led by Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as chief minister in 2020.

Like in 2018, the elections in the five states are being seen as a ‘semi-final’ ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year. They have become even more important because of the BJP’s big loss in Karnataka in May, which has ensured that the party is not in power in any state in south India.