Rebellion in BJP over Rajasthan list

 Vasundhara Raje to contest from Jhalrapatan

 Demonstrations and slogan-shouting broke out in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office after party general secretary Pramod Mahajan and state party unit chief Vasundhara Raje announced the BJP's first list of 93 candidates for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly.

 The party leadership went into a huddle and scheduled presentations by advertising agencies had to be cancelled as leaders tried to ascertain the identity of the mob that tried to disrupt the election committee meeting.

 The incident was all the more embarrassing because Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was scheduled to have considered the lists between 4.30 pm and 7.00 pm.

 This is the first open incident of rebellion against an official list so far. Party leaders said they could not identify the slogan shouters as being from one or other faction.

 It was widely believed that some MLAs owing allegiance to former Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat were not happy at the manner in which tickets were allocated.

 However, party sources said district level election meetings held so far had been so peaceful that today's demonstration came as a surprise.