Jaipur: In a major relief for Congress, party rebel candidate Navratan Daga withdrew his candidature for the mayoral elections in Bikaner Friday, allowing the party’s official nominee, Anil Kalla, to move forward.Kalla, nephew of former cabinet minister B D Kalla, is set to compete against BJP candidate Surendra Singh Shekhawat in the elections scheduled for Sept 21.Senior Congress functionaries intervened and persuaded Daga to withdraw his candidature. Sources said the party has offered him the deputy mayor’s post, while two of his supporters are likely to be accommodated in organisational positions.Bikaner is the only municipal corporation in Rajasthan where Congress has a clear majority, having won 42 of the 80 wards. BJP won 27 wards, while independents and others accounted for 11.Daga’s rebellion had threatened to upset Congress’s calculations despite its majority in the House. His withdrawal has now eased the immediate challenge to Kalla, with the party shifting its focus to keeping its councillors together ahead of the mayoral election.Bikaner Congress district president Madan Gopal Meghwal said, “Daga raised some issues with party leadership and they agreed to look into the issues. He never wanted to contest for the mayor’s post, as he had made it clear to our senior functionaries. He has given unconditional support to the party candidate.” Meghwal said.He said the withdrawal would allow the party to focus on the mayoral election. TOI tried to contact Daga, but his phone was switched off. Meghwal said all Congress councillors were currently attending a training camp along with some independent councillors.Before the polls, the Bikaner contest was seen as a prestige battle between Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, a four-time MP from Bikaner, and Congress veteran B D Kalla. While BJP fielded a mayoral candidate, its tally was 15 short of the majority mark, leaving the party with little room for manoeuvre compared with the post-poll activity seen in other civic bodies.
