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Vasundhara Raje sitting pretty

Gargi Parsai

Jhalawar: every village has been provided with roads, “bijli and paani”

— PHOTO: PTI

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje offers prayers at a temple before filing her nomination in Jhalawar.

JHALARAPATAN: Five years of Vasundhara Raje rule in Rajasthan has transformed the Chief Minister’s home district of Jhalawar that has four segments, including Jhalarapatan, the seat she represents in the Assembly.

The developmental works undertaken here could well be cited as an example of how it should be done. Not only the beneficiary population but also Ms. Raje’s opponents concede that never before has the district seen such progress. Her supporters say the picture is the same all over the State.

The newly constructed engineering college and the Jhalawar Medical College with a 500-bedded hospital are comparable to the best in any metro city. The newly opened Horticulture Institute is the only one in the State and the Law College is the only one in Kota Division. A 1100 MW thermal power station, a new polytechnic college, cooperative institute, schools, anganwadis, toilets and above all employment opportunities in government jobs, police force, education, public works department and power sector are the other developments that people say they could not have dreamt of. Nearly every village has concrete roads and has been provided with “bijli and paani.”

Shahdab Ahmed, a traditional supporter of the Congress, said not only regular development works but also Ms. Raje had contributed immensely in electrification of villages and bringing piped water supply.

The Chief Minister’s development work cuts across party and caste lines which is why she is perhaps the only BJP leader who gets the support of Muslims in her constituency.

Ms. Raje had represented Jhalawar in Parliament from 1989. It was in 2003 that she was fielded as BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate from Jhalarapatan and was pitted against Rama Pilot of the Congress. Ms Raje won by a margin of 27,375 and polled over 59 per cent votes.

This time the Congress has fielded a former MLA, Mohanlal Rathore against Ms.Raje but judging from her development works and the enthusiasm of the crowds that besieged her after she filed her nomination papers, her victory is a foregone conclusion.

The challenge, however, would be to see the BJP through in the other three Assembly segments in Jhalawar district. In the three other segments namely Khanpur, Manoharthana and Dag, the BJP has fielded new candidates and is facing rebellion.

On Tuesday, Ms.Raje’s MP son, Dushyant Singh who represents Jhalawar in Parliament, was with Jagannath Verma, the sitting MLA who has been replaced with Shyam Sunder Sharma, trying to get him to support the official candidate.

Already Congress candidate Kailash Meena, a local pradhan, has got a head start in his campaign.

In Khanpur segment, Meenakshi Chandrawat (Congress) has a slight edge as BJP’s sitting MLA Narendra Nagar is sulking after his claim was overlooked in favour of Anil Jain. In Dag (SC), sitting BJP MLA Snehlata has been replaced and now has her husband contesting as an independent. The BJP candidate, Ramlal Verma is locked in a fight with Madanlal Verma of the Congress. However, BJP die-hards maintain that once the charismatic Ms. Raje campaigns in the region, all rebellion will die down.

The Gujjar community, which traditionally supported the BJP, is divided on which way to go in connection with the reservation issue.

For a while it was speculated that Ms. Raje’s daughter-in-law Niharika, who is a Gujjar, would enter the fray to influence the Gujjars, but Ms. Raje stoutly denied it. “One in the family [her son] is enough,” she said.

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