Vasundhara Raje and Sachin Pilot go head-to-head as Rajasthan gears up for polls

By Anil Sharma

With the assembly elections only a few months away, the poll bugle has been sounded in Rajasthan, and the main contenders, the ruling BJP and the Congress, are building momentum to woo voters.

The assembly elections are due later this year in November or December.

It was the Congress, led by its state chief Sachin Pilot, that got the ball rolling early by organising the ‘Mera Booth Mera Gaurav’ programme, conceptualised by AICC general secretary and Rajasthan in charge Avinash Pande, to strengthen booth management. Remember, this is the same state where the party suffered its worst ever defeat in the 2013 assembly elections and lost all seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress now plans to take its campaign to panchayat levels and conduct door-to-door canvassing. And it is evident that the moral is high and party workers are enthusiastic and hopeful.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and the BJP are also not far behind. As part of her pre-poll campaign, Raje conducted ‘janswad’ (public hearings) in a few districts and is now on a 58-day Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra, which was flagged off by BJP president Amit Shah from on August 4. The yatra is primarily aimed at informing the masses about the Raje government’s development initiatives. The yatra is expected to cover 165 of the state’s 200 assembly constituencies, and will culminate on September 30 at Ajmer, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address a public rally. But although the yatra has attracted crowds in plenty, it has failed to make an emotional connect or draw enthusiasm.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also did a roadshow in Jaipur last week. Jaipur is considered to be a BJP stronghold, with the BJP’s Ramcharan Bohara having won with a massive margin of over 5.30 lakh votes in the 2014 polls. Massive crowds attended Gandhi’s event, but how far this will translate into actual votes is to be seen.

To make matters worse, the BJP’s state unit showed its panic soon after the roadshow, with some state ministers even speaking against the event and forcing the party to hastily organise a press conference, all even before Gandhi left the city. The BJP’s reaction has shown that it is nervous about its poll prospects.

But whose fate is it to see an end like former chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s 2013 Sandesh Yatra, which drew the crowds but failed to get the votes?

BJP’s woes

Raje faces many challenges in retaining the state. She is fighting against two anti-incumbencies—one against her government, and the other against the Mod government at the Centre. How she tackles this anti-incumbency it is to be seen. The people of Rajasthan are unhappy with the Raje government, which makes her task even more difficult.

People in Rajasthan are mainly angry with three things—unemployment, lack of development and Raje’s arrogance. For over four-and-a-half years, Raje has not met anyone, party workers, voters and journalists alike. No press conferences were held and bureaucrats were given a free hand to rule the state. The introduction of GST and demonetisation are also issues.

To compound an already tough situation for the Raje government, Shah asked party leaders and workers to compare the work done by Raje’s government to the previous Gehlot-led Congress government. The BJP will be making a grave mistake if it makes it attempts to shape the assembly poll as a personality battle.

Gehlot is more popular among the masses in Rajasthan then Raje. He is a grassroot political leader of the masses, and is remembered for his social welfare schemes. Moreover, Pilot, a suave, young leader, has been able to revive the party in the state by travelling thousands of kilometres, regularly meeting party workers, and employing a CEO-like approach in handling the party affairs. Pande’s role in bringing together senior party leaders like Gehlot, C.P. Joshi and Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, to work with Pilot cannot be ignored.

But the Congress has its own problems. There is some infighting and factionalism, and keeping everyone untied at least until the election will be a tough task. The party is keen to come back to power, but unless it curbs and controls infighting, its poll prospects will be bleak.

Nevertheless, through Pilot, Gehlot and Pande’s political acumen, the Congress seems to be ahead at this point, at least in reaching out to voters.

It is still too early to predict who will be victorious, but a recent survey by ABP and C-Voter puts the Congress ahead.

Anil Sharma is a political analyst and senior journalist.