Flashing her pink and yellow benefit cards, Sunita Seervi of Garnia village in Rajasthan’s Pali thanked the Ashok Gehlot-led government for introducing schemes that have improved her home budget. Be it Jodhpur, Jaipur or Udaipur, the chief minister’s face is plastered across cities in the state – on hoardings, poles, buses, walls, e-rickshaws – promising subsidised electricity, LPG cylinder, medical insurance and pension in the run-up to the assembly elections.
“I pay Rs 1,100 for a gas cylinder. Now Rs 550 comes back into my account. My electricity bill has gone down since 100 units are free. Even for my cattle care, I get funds from the government,” she says.
There are many who echo this sentiment at the other end of the state as well. In Dausa’s Nagal village, Pravat Meena is a beneficiary of the state government’s pension scheme. Fellow villager Koli says hospitalisation is not a financial worry anymore.
But ask them if they are concerned about the burden this would cause on the state exchequer, pat comes the reply: “Why is this argument made only when the poor, marginalised or farmers benefit? Does the government not help industrialists? Is there no economic implication when big people get subsidies?” Meena asks.
It is this very sentiment in favour of welfare schemes that Gehlot wants to encase to offset the anti-incumbency: 100 units of free electricity, Rs 25 lakh health insurance, Rs 500 for LPG cylinder, urban job guarantee, are some of the schemes that have been announced.
But allegations of corruption, poor women’s safety and infighting within the Congress could prove to be his Achilles heel.
Paper leak: ‘No future for honest students’
‘Paper leak’ comes up every so often in conversations with youngsters in Rajasthan. At Jodhpur’s Jai Narain Vyas University (JNVU), Lokendra Singh Bati says, “I come from a family where higher education isn’t easy. Families mortgage the last of what they have to send the child to coaching classes. Year after year, we prepare for competitive exams and then the paper gets leaked. We lose a year and our faith in the system. Those who have the money, buy the exam papers while deserving youngsters are left in the lurch.”
Sachin Purohit declares this will ensure Gehlot’s defeat in the upcoming elections. “Jab jab chhatra bola hai… raj gaddi dola hai,” the commerce student says.
Mamta Agrag, a nursing student from Jalore, agrees. “Just because I don’t have money to buy the exam paper, I can’t have a government job? This has happened so many times in this government,” she says.
Udaipur’s Ritu could not agree more. “I have a BEd degree. Yet, I am forced to run this small grocery shop because the government can’t get its act right. Honest students have no future in Rajasthan,” she says.
According to the state government’s own data, 10 state recruitment exam papers have been leaked since the Congress government came to power in 2018. The issue was raised by party leader Sachin Pilot, too, before national president Mallikarjun Kharge worked to bring about a truce.
Infighting: ‘We only trust Pilot’
Gehlot and Pilot may have buried the hatchet for now with the Bhoolo aur maaf karo slogan. But, Pilot’s Gujjar supporters are neither in a mood to forgive nor forget.
A property dealer in Rajsamand, Rajesh Gujjar asks: “From Kota to Bharatpur, the entire eastern Rajasthan was a BJP bastion. Pilot delivered it to the Congress. Why was he not made CM?”
The sentiment is stronger in Pilot’s homeground Dausa. “We won’t trust the Congress this time. They backstabbed us,” say residents of Bawanpara village, which is near Sikandra where 21 people were killed during the Gujjar agitation of 2008.
Renu Devi says they only trust Pilot not because of caste affinity, but because he is the son of Rajesh Pilot – a leader who did a lot of work for the region.
Caste dynamics: ‘Whoever brings water…’
Political analysts say the 4 percent Gujjar vote in this region, if consolidated, could upset the Congress cart. The reason why Gehlot is trying to woo the other castes. Across the road from Sikandra – the epicentre of the Gujjar agitation – is Malion Ki Dhani.
At this village, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hailed as the man who brought “prestige” to the country. But ask the village residents if the BJP will be their choice in the polls ahead, there are conflicting views.
“Ashok Gehlot ne humein pension dilwai hai… Rajasthan ke liye achha kaam kar rahe hain (Ashok Gehlot has got us pension, he’s doing good work for Rajasthan),” says Sahajnath. “But Modi will be my choice for Lok Sabha,” he adds, amid a loud chorus of agreement.
In this village and its surrounding areas, water scarcity is a major problem. Women residents say the central government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan may have ensured toilets are built but in the absence of any water source, they are being used as animal sheds or for storing cow dung.
“Jo paani dega usko vote denge (Whoever brings water to us will get our vote),” Rajkumari says. But the soft corner for fellow Mali , Gehlot, cannot be missed.
So, if the BJP is depending on ‘Modi magic’ to work in Rajasthan, ‘Jadugar Gehlot’ is banking on Meenas, Jats, Malis and others to offset Gujjar anger and anti-incumbency.
