Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje on Sunday asked party cadre to work for the lotus, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election symbol, not individuals, hinting to pre-empt any fight over ticket distribution for the December 7 assembly polls.

Addressing a meeting of party workers from 31 assembly constituencies in Ranakpur of Pali district, she said after the ticket announcement, workers had to understand that the lotus was party’s candidate.

The BJP would retain power because of its unity, while the Congress was a divided house, said the CM.

Raje along with core committee members and election management committee members took feedback from the workers on the probable names for the 31 seats. The workers were asked to put their recommendation in a sealed box.

After the meeting, the rural development, panchayati raj and parliamentary affairs minister Rajendra Rathore said no parachute candidates would be given tickets, and the voice of party workers would be heard while deciding on tickets.

Raje said the BJP has done more development work in the past five years in the state than the Congress in 50 years.

She said the Congress had acknowledged that the BJP government’s welfare schemes were good because former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said if the Congress came to power, it would continue with the current schemes.

State in charge Avinash Rai Khanna, BJP joint general secretary (organisation) V Satish, general secretary (organisation) Chandrasekhar, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, state ministers Gulab Chand Kataria, Rajendra Rathore Arun Chaturvedi and Yunus Khan, and senior leaders Om Mathur, Satish Poonia and Ashok Parnami attended the meeting.

The leaders will meet workers from different constituencies in Ranakpur till October 17. The next meeting is scheduled in Jaipur from October 20 to 23.

First Published: Oct 15, 2018 13:16 IST