Infighting, anti-incumbency dim Cong chance
If it’s ‘Mission 272+’ for the BJP at the national level it’s ‘Mission 25’ for the party’s State unit in Rajasthan.
Riding high on the resounding victory in the Assembly polls some four months ago and expecting the “Modi factor” to work big time, the BJP is not only eyeing all the 25 lok Sabha seats in the country’s largest State but also seeking revenge for its humiliating defeat in the last Parliamentary elections in 2009, when it could win just four seats and the Congress romped home with an astounding 20 seats in its kitty.
“What could be better than Jaipur setting the tone for the Congress’ debacle,” BJP leaders say.There’s also another number in play. last year, the BJP won all the eight Assembly seats under the Jaipur lok Sabha constituency.
“The victory margins of all the eight BJP MlAs put together make up for nearly 2.35 lakh votes. That is exactly the target or the margin of victory we are aiming for our candidate from the 20-lakh-electorate-strong Jaipur lok Sabha seat,” a BJP functionary says.
Jaipur is one of the 20 lok Sabha constituencies that will go to polls on April 17 in the first phase of elections in the State.It’s a direct contest between a “worker” and a “worker”. BJP has fielded Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje loyalist and party’s State general secretary Ramcharan Bohra from the seat. An old war horse and an organisation man his entire life, Bohra made the cut as Raje preferred him for being a ‘worker’ of the party. He is taking on the sitting Congress MP Mahesh Joshi, who is portraying himself as someone who has “worked” for the constituency.
Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP has fielded Virendra Singh, an asthma specialist, from the constituency. The former Superintendent of Sawai Man Singh Hospital, who joined the new party after opting for voluntary retirement, promises infrastructural development, strengthening Jaipur’s cultural heritage besides promoting medical tourism. But, observers point out that it is a straight contest between the Congress and the BJP.
Both Bohra and Joshi, however, have had to face a common problem. Their nominations led to widespread dissent within their parties. For Bohra, who faces the first major electoral battle of his life, it took Raje’s stern message to her party’s leaders from Jaipur to fall in line and back him. “With Raje in full command, everyone wishes to be in her good books. Hence, the infighting stopped almost instantly, at least publicly,” says the BJP functionary. With Raje scheduled to campaign for Bohra on April 14, the BJP feels it will plug the remaining loopholes, if any.
However, Joshi isn’t that lucky. Since the Congress’ State president Sachin Pilot is himself fighting a battle for survival in Ajmer, there’s no one to rein in its dissenting leaders. Such has been the infighting in the Congress camp that almost all its top leaders in Jaipur gave a rally in support of Joshi a miss, that too, just a day before he was to file his nomination.
Despite elections being just a week away, Joshi continues to face opposition from within the party’s own ranks even as Bohra has clearly emerged the frontrunner. “Protests by none other than party workers themselves during his campaign meetings continue. They hold him responsible for his lack of connect with the masses, one that led to the party’s rout in the eight Assembly seats,” points out a Congress leader.
Hence, a behind-the-scene revenge act against Joshi being played out by certain sections of the Congress cannot be ruled out, he says.
The Congress reposed its faith in Joshi, who had made his maiden foray in the lower House last time. Among others, he showcases the Jaipur Metro Project as one of his biggest achievements. “It’s not his achievement alone. It’s a collective effort of the State and the Centre,” points out Anant Revti, a hotel owner.
The BJP is hitting out at the erstwhile Congress Government led by Ashok Gehlot. “We will take up the stalled park development projects, boost the cottage industries, restart the Special Economic Zone, land for which was acquired by the Raje Government but work on which was stalled during Gehlot’s tenure,” says BJP’s l Pareekh. As the electoral battle heats up, Jaipur certainly seems to be going the BJP way.