BJP at a political crossroads in desert state

The voters of Rajasthan are unsparing in holding their elected leaders accountable. They tend to change the government every five years. At least, that has been the trend in the state in the last three decades. As it attempts to wrest power from the Congress led by Ashok Gehlot in the desert state, the BJP is hoping that the electorate will not buck the trend this time.

The attempt by the BJP top brass to sideline former chief minister and its most popular leader in the state, Vasundhara Raje, did not work. Her loyalists have finally found favour in ticket distribution. She may ultimately call the shots if the BJP comes to power.

In the 2003 elections, when Raje, daughter of Maharaja of Gwalior Jivajirao Scindia and Vijayaraje Scindia, was catapulted into the limelight as the BJP’s chief ministerial face through her carefully organised ‘Parivartan Yatra’, she won by a big margin. In 2013, as the chief ministerial face, Raje got the BJP its biggest victory of 163 seats out of 200. She was however given the short shrift this time. The ‘yatras’ through the state this time were led by the BJP’s central leaders, who could not connect with people and did not generate enough passion.

The long-time rivalry between Raje and Prime Minister Narendra Modi dates back to the chief ministerial days of the two leaders. That Raje has a mind of her own and may be difficult to control if she becomes the chief minister for the third time perhaps held the BJP back from projecting her this time. The party’s Delhi Durbar does not want any powerful regional satrap and it fears that Raje has the potential to turn into one.

When Gehlot took over as the chief minister in 2018, he did not go after Raje on corruption charges. He avoided criticising Raje and instead took on Modi as his target.

Gehlot also publicly acknowledged Raje’s help in saving his government during the crisis engineered by Sachin Pilot, his rival within the ruling Congress. This widened the divisions in the BJP and the divide between pro-Raje and anti-Raje camps became more prominent. The saffron party’s top leaders had given the responsibility of providing tacit support to Pilot to Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who, however, could not deliver.

With no chief ministerial face being projected by the BJP, many others joined the list of contenders for the top job and the names of leaders like Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Om Birla, Rajendra Rathore, Diya Kumari and even Ashwini Vaishnav started doing the rounds, confusing the party cadres. The attempt to project the party’s symbol ‘lotus’ as the BJP’s face did not work. Although Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have already toured the state extensively, the buzz for the moment is still missing.

Clearly, the BJP in Rajasthan stands at a critical political crossroads ahead of the assembly polls.

The BJP has fielded several MPs to contest the assembly polls in Rajasthan, just as it did in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Though the MPs were fielded by the BJP top brass, some of them – like Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Devji Patel contesting in Jaipur (Rural) and Sanchore – faced strong resistance from the local party workers. Although the BJP remains strong in organisation and running the campaign, Gehlot and the Congress are deftly countering its publicity blitzkrieg this time.

While Gehlot is seeking votes by highlighting the series of social welfare schemes launched by the Congress government in the state, the BJP is focussing on targeting the ruling dispensation on allegations of corruption, exam question paper leaks and failure in ensuring women's safety