By Archana Sharma
Jaipur, Feb 12 (IANS) Finally, it appears that the Assembly poll bugle has been sounded in Rajasthan with Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the state for the second time in the last 15 days.
Earlier, he had visited Bhilwara district to reach out to the Gujjars, and a few months before that, he had come to Mangarh dham to woo tribals.
This time, Modi is visiting Dausa to inaugurate the first phase of Delhi-Mumbai expressway. Dausa comprises a Meena belt and hence it won’t be wrong to say that Modi’s visit in this belt can help the party garner a larger vote share.
BJP overall has a weak presence in eastern Rajasthan, and hence comes the back to back visits of PM Modi to garner mileage in the forthcoming polls in December this year.
Earlier, the BJP had announced that the party would not campaign on a CM’s face but will contest elections on Modi’s face.
After this announcement, factionalism is now out in the open with many leaders aspiring to be the CM-candidate.
It is a Herculean task for the party to shortlist a CM face among the aspirants who can go along with the central leadership, said party officials. Also, it is difficult for these CM candidates to find the right seat that fits the social engineering equations.
The top aspirant in the run up for the CM face as of now undoubtedly is former CM Vasundhara Raje, a six-time MLA and has a strong hold on her constituency, Jhalrapatan. However, the queen has an issue with the central leadership and hence comes the challenge, said sources.
Second in the fray is Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is an MP from Jodhpur. However, the challenge for him is to find the right Rajput seat.
Discussion on his contesting from the Lohawat constituency has been done, but the seat is Jat dominated. In this case, Haryana’s Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi might be called here to contest as an MP and in return he can pull votes for the BJP. The other seat for him can be Pokhran, which is a Hindu-Muslim seat.
In the last Assembly polls, Saleh Muhammad won the seat by 339 votes by defeating Mahant Pratap Puri. So this seat is difficult. Next is Shergarh and Barmer seats, which are yet again difficult in terms of Jat’s dominance.
The third candidate in fray is Satish Poonia, who is the BJP state president in Rajasthan. He won the Amer seat in a third attempt and has lost two Assembly polls earlier. Finding a right seat for him is yet again a challenge as he doesn’t want to go out of Jaipur but caste equations are not favourable here.
He can contest from Kishangarh, which has rich Jats, but they can be influenced by ‘Madam’ which is Raje. Sahada can be yet another choice for him, but it has a Gangabai temple connected to Gwalior Scindias where again Raje has a role. Jyotiraditya Scindia recently came here to campaign.
Masuda is a seat which has Jat dominance. This can be a winning or losing seat for Satish Poonia too.
Next candidate in fray is Union minister Arjun Meghwal, but he has already crossed 70 years and hence his age is a barrier.
Rajendra Rathore, deputy leader of opposition is yet another candidate in fray, however his Churu seat, which is a mix of Jats and Rajput candidature, this time faces a challenge. Now MP Rahul Kaswan, a Jat is Raje’s man.
Diya Kumari, Jaipur princess and Rajsamand MP is next in line, however finding a Rajput seat for her is yet again a challenge. She might be fielded from Nathdwara, but here C.P. Joshi is a strong face and Brahmin Vs Rajput will not make a decent choice.
Kishanpole constituency, meanwhile in Jaipur, can be a decent choice for her as the City Palace comes under it, and she also has a decent influence here.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s name is yet again making rounds for the CM’s post, but it is difficult if Delhi leaves him.
So, as the CM candidates stay busy in finding safe seats, BJP leadership seems equally busy in playing safe by staying away from announcing any CM face before polls.
Senior leaders like Amit Shah, Arun Singh, J.P. Nadda have announced that the Assembly polls will be contested on Modi’s face.
All eyes are set as to which CM will the central leadership finalise from amongst these aspirants, who can go hand-in-hand with the top leadership for after the 2023 Assembly polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, said sources.
–IANS
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