Jaipur/Sikar: Forty candidates have filed nominations for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan so far, officials said on Tuesday.

BJP candidates Jyoti Mirdha and Sumedhanand Saraswati filed nominations from Nagaur and Sikar Lok Sabha constituencies, respectively on Tuesday. INDIA bloc constituent the CPI(M)'s candidate Amraram filed his nomination from Sikar on the same day.

Mirdha, a former Congress MP from Nagaur who joined the BJP ahead of the 2023 assembly elections, is pitted against Rashtriya Loktantrik Party convener Hanuman Beniwal who is contesting the elections in alliance with the Congress.

Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan will be held in two phases on April 19 and 26. Nagaur and Sikar are among the 12 parliamentary constituencies where polling will be held in the first phase on April 19.

The last date for filing nomination papers for the first phase is March 27. Scrutiny will be held on March 28 and the last date of withdrawal of nomination is March 30.

Addressing a public meeting in Sikar after incumbent MP Sumedhanand Saraswati filed his nomination, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma accused the Congress of indulging in vote-bank politics and said that the BJP always works keeping in mind the welfare of the people and the country.

"The Congress has made making false promises a habit. Whatever they promised in the last five years was never fulfilled," he said.

"The Congress government meant corruption, appeasement, and terrorism. Until Narendra Modi came to power (at the Centre), anyone could bomb any city in our country. But, it's only PM Modi who ensured a secure and developing India that also made a place for itself on the global stage," Sharma said.

In Sikar, CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat, while addressing a rally after the party's candidate Amraram filed his nominations, said, "The BJP has sent our constitution to the ICU. The upcoming general election is not a fight for the chair, but for saving our democracy and constitutional rights." "PM Modi might be dreaming of crossing 400 seats but the people who have faced torture under his rule in the last 10 years will not let it happen," she said.

Congress leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday targeted the BJP government at the Centre, claiming that "democracy is in danger" and the country is being ruled through federal agencies such as the ED and the CBI.

In the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, voting will be held in 12 Lok Sabha constituencies of Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa and Nagaur on April 19.

The remaining 13 seats of Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran will go to polls in the second phase on April 26.