Gehlot to contest from Sardarpura, Pilot from Tonk

New Delhi, Nov 16  Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will contest the December 7 Assembly elections from his traditional Sardarpura seat while the Congress' state unit chief Sachin Pilot will contest from Tonk.

Their names figured in the first list of 152 candidates announced by the party here late on Thursday after a meeting of the Congress Central Election Committee.

Although the chief ministerial face of the party has not yet been announced, two-time Chief Minister Gehlot and Pilot are considered to be the front runners. 

Pilot, a former MP from Dausa and Ajmer, will contest the assembly polls for the first time.

The party has also fielded former Union Ministers C.P. Joshi and Girija Vyas from Nathdwara and Udaipur assembly seats, respectively.

It has given tickets to five former MPs, including Narendra Budania, Raghuvir Meena and Harish Chowdhary.

Two sitting MPs have also been fielded by the party, including BJP MP Harish Meena, who joined the Congress on Tuesday. He will contest from Deoli-Uniara.

Ajmer MP Raghu Sharma has been fielded from Kakri.

Another BJP turncoat, MLA Habibur Rahman has been fielded from Nagaur. Rahman joined after the Bharatiya Janata Party denied him a ticket.

Five more Muslim candidates have been given tickets. They are Zakir Hussain from Makrana, Naseem Akhtar from Pushkar, Ameen Kagzi from Kishanpole, Saleh Mohammed from Pokaran and Ameen Khan from Sheo.

The party has denied tickets to three sitting MLAs -- Ghanshyam Mehar from Todabhim, Narayan Singh from Dataramgarh and Hiralal from Jhadol.