The central Congress leadership has identified around six to eight Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan that “require special attention”, said a party official familiar with the matter.

The seats include those where the candidate is new or receiving opposition within the party or the party is in direct contest with the BJP. Jaipur-City, Jaipur-Rural, Ajmer, Bhilwara, Rajsamand, Jhalawar-Baran, Ganganagar and Nagaur are being considered among such seats.

In a meeting with the state and central leaders including chief minister Ashok Gehlot, AICC general sectrary Avinash Pande and deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Saturday, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi asked them to pay special attention on the seats where local leaders opposed the party’s official candidate or the BJP’s candidate is strong, the party official said on the condition of anonymity.

There were talks of changing candidates on six seats, but later the state leaders reportedly assured Gandhi to fix the situation in two days.

The last of filing nominations for phase-I of the Lok Sabha election in Rajasthan is April 9.

The Congress leader said Rahul Gandhi has asked the state leaders to constantly monitoring the seats in question, take ground level feedback and ensure that the party campaign runs smoothly. The state leaders have are been asked to publicise Congress manifesto, especially the minimum income guarantee scheme (the NYAY scheme), which, the party believes, will to prove to be game changer.

It has been learnt that the office of Gandhi is also taking random feedback on the campaign of party candidates’ campaign and challenges through telephonic calls. “A call from Gandhi’s office was received on Saturday, which asked how the candidate campaign is being run, challenges, and is the election material provided etc,” said a Congress worker in Jaipur, on the condition of anonymity.

AICC president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi are likely to hold road shows and rallies in Rajasthan in order to boost the prospects of party candidates.

Meanwhile, a section of the Congressmen has started questioning various surveys conducted by the party at different levels and even one conducted through Shakti application.

“Resentment and dissatisfaction after ticket distribution is usual phenomenon, but on such a scale at as many as eight LS seats is a concern, especially when around three months exercise was made for candidate selection,” said another Congress worker, who did not want to be named.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Here is all you need to know about Rajasthan

First Published: Apr 08, 2019 15:30 IST