Even before casting their votes, the electorate in Rajasthan’s ‘Pink City’ is getting ready to welcome Vasundhara Raje, BJP’s chief ministerial candidate on the ‘hot seat.’
“During Raje’s previous term in office, we saw growth of business and increase in tourist footfall. There was less corruption and the city was less chaotic and presented a clean look,” the owner said while accusing the sitting Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of losing the opportunity to carry on with development work initiated by the previous Government.
“Whatever Gehlot is claiming in his election speeches are only empty words. He has just been making announcements for the last six months without realising that time is running out and the ground is slipping from beneath his feet. Gehlot has failed to deliver the goods and the electorate is angry with him and in a mood to punish him,” another owner of a well-known provision store on MI Road said.
A saffron surge may not be very visible in the royal city owing to strict Election Commission guidelines, but the strong wave in support of the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate is being felt in every nook and corner. In the old city area cycle rickshaws can be spotted with poll material negotiating their way through the dingy lanes and busy roads. But the owners of publicity material shops are furious with the Election Commission guidelines.
“Our business has hit a new low in these elections because of the strict guidelines. Barring poll material being booked for big rallies the candidates are shying away from placing basic orders fearing the Election Commission’s wrath, if they defy their norms,” said Pramod Prabhune, who runs a business in Chandpole market in Jaipur.
Bhajan lal, a tea vendor on the famous Sardar Patel Road, who has been selling the beverage for the last 25 years, said: “Throughout the day my customers keep discussing the poll outcome. All I hear from them is that the Congress will lose badly in the State.”
lal, who hails from Fatehpur Sikri in Agra and has made Jaipur his second home, added: “The rise in prices and infighting in the Congress would lead it to defeat in Rajasthan.”
A very keen observer of politics, a State Government employee sipping tea at the stall also joined the discussion and started giving reasons as to why the Congress will lose badly and is facing a tough challenge even in its strong bastions.
“They (Congress leaders) have only promoted caste-based politics and have reduced policy-making to caste-centric considerations in the State, riddled with caste equations,” he said. The city’s electorate mostly consists of Brahmins, Rajputs, Punjabis, Muslims and Scheduled Caste voters while backward castes dominate the rural pockets of Jaipur district.
Even among the first-time voters and the student community, the buzz is about the Congress’ impending debacle and how huge the saffron party’s victory margin will be in the State. Two students of Rajasthan University and over two dozen office-bearers of Rajasthan University Students Union are contesting the polls and looking forward to victory. Manish Yadav (25) is the youngest candidate in the fray from Shahpura Assembly seat in rural Jaipur district. Yadav is relying on his popularity as a student leader and is campaigning among the youth to step out and vote. Another PHD scholar Kailash Verma is contesting on a BJP ticket from Bagru seat on the outskirts of Jaipur.
According to the two contenders, Vasundhara Raje tops the popularity chart as opposed to Gehlot. Her ‘Suraj Sankalp yatra’ across 200 Assembly constituencies in the State has already helped her make inroads and consolidate her grip over the electorate. In Jaipur city, where the BJP won five out of eight seats during the 2008 polls, the party is banking heavily on the charisma of the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.