Jaipur, Apr 3 (HT): The Congress on Monday fielded Olympian and Padma Shri awardee and legislator from Sadulpur Krishna Poonia in Jaipur Rural, making it women candidates from the party in both Jaipur rural and Jaipur city parliamentary constituencies.

On March 28, the Congress had announced the candidature of its first elected former mayor, Jyoti Khandelwal, from Jaipur city. Ramcharan Bohra, the MP who defeated the then-sitting MP Mahesh Joshi in 2014 with a margin of 5.30 lakh votes, is contesting from Jaipur city, the same constituency as Khandelwal. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeated its sitting MP, Olympian and Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in Jaipur Rural, where Poonia is contesting from.

The Congress in the state has reduced the number of tickets given to women this election to four, from six in 2014 and five in 2009. Of the six women to contest on a Congress ticket in 2014, none registered a win, while three of the five women won (Nagaur, Jodhpur and Chittorgarh) in 2009.

The other two women fielded by the Congress are Savita Meena, wife of Congress MLA Murari Meena from the same constituency, Dausa, and former MP Jyoti Mirdha from Nagaur.. The state has 25 parliamentary constituencies.

The BJP has denied a ticket to its lone woman MP from Jhunjhunu, Santosh Ahlawat, and chosen sitting MLA from Mandawa, Narendra Khichad, instead.

This is the first time after member of the erstwhile royal family Gayatri Devi, who was elected to the Lok Sabha thrice from the Swatantra Party (1962, 67 and 71), that a woman candidate (Khandelwal) has been fielded from Jaipur city by any party.

Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha seat was constituted after delimitation in 2008, and so far has witnessed two general elections – in 2009 which the Congress candidate Lal Chand Kataria won – and in 2014, which the BJP’S Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had won.

Political analyst Narayan Bareth said it’s the responsibility and work of any political party to introduce new leadership, keeping in mind social and gender equations. “Both the women have performed in their fields and have leadership qualities -- while Jyoti showed her working in civic body, Krishna on the other hand is from a farming background and has brought a sports spirit. It’s a good selection by Congress and this also makes emotional bond with half of the population (women). It generates inspiration among women,” he said.