The election process for the November 13 by-polls in seven seats of the Rajasthan State Assembly began on Friday with the issuance of the requisite notification by the Election Commission.

However, no nominations were filed on the opening day across any of the seven assembly segments, namely, Jhunjhunu, Ramgarh, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Salumbar (ST), Khimsar, and Chorasi (ST).

Since both the BJP and the Congress have yet to declare their candidates, the absence of nominations on the first day was expected.

Instead of going to the respective Returning Officer (RO) offices, ticket aspirants and top state leaders of both parties were busy lobbying for their preferred positions with their respective party high commands in New Delhi.

The ruling BJP has already conducted significant groundwork, shortlisting prospective nominees at the local and provincial levels.

Accordingly, segment-wise panels containing three names each for the seven assembly segments have been forwarded to the party high command by the state core group.

The party’s central leadership has reportedly approved the candidates’ names, and the announcement is expected to coincide with the Congress’s declaration of nominees.

The Congress, meanwhile, is lagging behind in its candidate selection process compared to the BJP. While informal discussions have taken place to identify probable contestants, the formal state meeting to prepare the panel of candidates is scheduled for Sunday. The panel will then be sent to the party high command for final selection and ticket allotment.

Another crucial issue, beyond candidate selection, is the party’s stance on its alliance with the INDIA bloc coalition. Uncertainty remains over whether the party will contest the seven seats on its own or honor its alliance with INDIA bloc in the November 13 by-polls.

If the party opts for an alliance, it will likely have to concede at least two seats—Chorasi (ST) and Khimsar — to allies, the Bharat Tribal Party (BTP) and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), respectively.

This issue was discussed in a meeting in New Delhi attended by the party’s state unit in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, state president Govind Singh Dotasara, and leader of the opposition in the state assembly Tika Ram Julie. However, the final decision on the matter remains with the Congress high command.