By Dushyant Shekhawat
In 2013, the Congress government in Rajasthan was staring down the barrel. An energetic opposition, led by the BJP, was able to make the most of Rajasthan’s reputation as a seesaw state, and sweep the election with a majority. Of the 200 seats in the Vidhan Sabha, the BJP won 160, and was able to restore Vasundhara Raje as CM, a post she earlier held between 2003 and 2008. Five years later, the tables might have turned. This time, it’s the BJP government with a target painted on its back as Rajasthan goes to polls, and the Congress that’s mounting a challenge to form a new government.
December 11 is the day the results will be declared, but there is plenty of potential of drama between then and now. The manifestos released by both Congress and BJP in the run-up are a good indicator of the number of problems the incoming government will have to face: From farmers’ issues over Minimum Support Price and loan waivers, the matter of overhauling the education infrastructure and syllabus, and the omnipresent cow politics, the political landscape in Rajasthan resembles a minefield. In this minefield, a misstep for either party could prove disastrous, and there are three factors in particular which both will be tiptoeing around with extra caution.
The first is an issue which concerns not only Rajasthan, but the whole country, especially in the wake of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh’s murder over cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh, and it is the rise of the Hindu hardliners. Alwar district in Rajasthan is where Pehlu Khan was lynched by a mob of gau rakshaks in what was one of the first high-profile cases of cow vigilantism to rock the nation. Since that fateful day, Rajasthan has begun to resemble a hotbed of fundamentalist violence, with fringe outfits like the Rajput Karni Sena gaining political and social currency by threatening artistes (they threatened to chop off Deepika Padukone’s nose for acting in Padmaavat) and grisly executions in the name of fighting love jihad like we saw in Rajsamand last December. As religious tolerance continues to plummet, neither party seems to be over-eager to resuscitate secularism.
Both BJP and Congress are predictably indulging in cow politics. While the Congress promised to increase the subsidy allotted to gaushalas, the BJP has also declared its intent to put up additional gau raksha chowkies across the state. Both parties have also announced that they will emphasise Sanskrit and Vedic learning when it comes to education. Who said only minorities could benefit from appeasement politics? The Congress appears willing to match its “soft Hindutva” against the BJP’s hardline brand, rather than attempt an alternative to a strategy that has yielded results for their opponents.
Allegations of corruption against Raje from her own party member Ghanshyam Tiwari in June this year has not helped her image in the eyes of the public.
The second key factor which appears to be crucial for both parties is employment, or rather, the lack of it. Perhaps the increase in the number of bands of angry young men roving through the state in lynch mobs is also tied in to the widespread unemployment. (According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Rajasthan has the fifth-highest unemployment rateout of all 29 Indian states). While both Rahul Gandhi and PM Modi were holding rallies in the state promising a bright future, four young men jumped in front of a train in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, ending their lives. Their friends latest told the police the four entered into a suicide pact after becoming depressed over their dismal job prospects.
The article was first published in Arre`
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