Mr Singh, 76, had reportedly told the party that he wanted to contest what is likely to be his last election, from Barmer, the constituency where he was born. The former union minister has also reportedly threatened to contest as an independent candidate if the party did not field him from Barmer.
But Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, whose stock is high ever since she handed the BJP a clean sweep of Rajasthan in the state elections four months ago, was keen to field Col Choudhary, who defected to the BJP from the Congress earlier this week.
The former army officer has represented Barmer in Parliament earlier, but was defeated in the 2004 election by Mr Singh's son Manavendra Singh, who is now a member of the state legislature. The Congress did not field the Colonel from Barmer in 2009.
Ms Raje told top party leaders that Col Choudhury, who is a Jat, could be a big draw in Barmer. Jats are the dominant community in Barmer. Mr Singh, on the other hand, is a Thakur. She also reportedly hopes that fielding him will help the BJP in getting Jat support in adjoining constituencies.
Mr Singh has never contested from Barmer. He won Lok Sabha elections from Chittorgarh in Rajasthan in 1991 and 1996, and from Darjeeling in West Bengal in 2009.
The party's refusal to give in to Mr Singh's demand comes soon after the BJP's seniormost leader LK Advani accepted, after a 24-hour sulk, the party's diktat on where he will contest the national election from.
The major crisis ended last evening with Mr Advani agreeing to contest from Gandhinagar in Gujarat. He had wanted to contest from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
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