Jaipur, Oct 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former MP and aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Narayan Pancharia is heading the BJP's election management committee here. He comes from Jodhpur, the home town of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the BJP seems to have made a big election move by appointing Pancharia to a strategic position.

Since his appointment, Pancharia has been busy holding back to back meetings and raising key issues. He is confident that the BJP will come back to power with a thumping victory while smashing its own record of 2013.

He says that the BJP has prepared a ‘Chakravyuh which will trap the Congress via the BJP’s chaupals for farmers, students and women which are being organised at different levels in various parts of the state. He is also confident that Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will lose his home seat.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview:

IANS: How do you see the BJP in the 2023 assembly polls?

Pancharia: The BJP is all prepared to register a thumping win in 2023. We will smash our own record of 2013 and return with a huge victory margin. The BJP in fact has strategised to trap the Congress in a chakravyuh via chaupals for farmers, students, women and other such segments. We have conducted surveys to know what people want from us and are working accordingly to give them 'sushasan' which they need the most.

IANS: Please elaborate on these chaupals?

Pancharia: For years, the women's reservation bill was pending, but now it has been passed due to the strong determination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and women are quite happy about it. Now we are organising women's chaupal and discussing the achievements of the Modi government and the Congress failures. Women's vote percentage will be increased this time and they will vote in the BJP’s favour.

Further there are farmer's chaupals being organised as well. Here farmers discuss their issues. They are quite distressed due to fake promises being made to them by the Congress government on loan waivers and hence they are expressing their concerns in these chaupals.

Next is student chaupals. The youths are quite aggrieved due to frequent paper leaks. They are bearing the brunt of unemployment. Also they have been duped by the Congress government by fake promises of being given unemployment allowance. So these chaupals are addressing their concerns. We have given bikes to youths who will go to each household in their areas and speak about Modi’s achievements and Congress failures while raising slogans of the BJP.

Also, we are organising a samajik sammelan under which ST and OBC sammelans are being organised…

In fact, sant and mahatma sammelans will also be organised in this series as they are equally hurt by the comments of the INDIA leaders on Sanatan dharma and the silence of the Congress leaders on it. They have approached us and are ready to raise their voice against those who speak against Sanatan.

IANS: What will be the core issues?

Pancharia: Law and order, appeasement, unemployment and paper leak and atrocities on women will be major issues. State Congress chief Dotasara, it has been reported, has made many members of his family RAS officials, so the Congress leadership will be targeted and we are sure that CM Gehlot will get defeated in his home turf this time.

We have never seen the Congress leaders going to temples before 2014, however now many leaders can be seen visiting temples. We will raise these points. The CM's and my constituency are the same. I have never seen any Katha or religious discourse being organised at his place anytime. So we will make the public aware of how they are now adopting fake faces for the sake of votes.

IANS: Any special strategy to cater to different segments?

Pancharia: We have decided to reach to the grassroots and hence have brought in vistaraks. They have been given motorcycles to ensure they go to villages and discuss Modi's achievements and the Congress failures at length

IANS: Your take on CM Gehlot praising Vasundhara again and again?

Pancharia: At times, Gehlot praises our strong leader Vasundhara Raje, There is no harm in it. This is politics. Our leader and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee also praised Indira Gandhi. In fact, our PM Narendra Modi has also termed Gehlot as his friend. So there is nothing wrong in such statements as they are part of politics.

IANS: Vasundhara was absent in many BJP yatras and many of her supporters' tickets were cut? Your take on it?

Pancharia: Vasundhara is the strongest leader of our party as per surveys. She has been attending all those meetings and events where her presence is a must. Yes, she has been absent from some but this is because she has other assignments too, being the national vice president of the party.

IANS: Why is the BJP going faceless in these elections.

Pancharia: The BJP has a policy in a state where it is not in power, it has never announced the CM face. This has been the party's policy for years.

IANS: Surveys say it’s a tough fight this time between the Congress and the BJP? Your opinion?

Pancharia: The Lotus will bloom on December 3 and the Congress will face a major defeat. We are going through advance planning and proper strategies while working in a system. Look at the Congress, they are taking so much time in announcing their candidates. There is a strong internal rift. In fact, there is a conflict between them and the people too which will become a reason for their downfall.

Meanwhile, the BJP has strategized to reach out to each home in each village.

Not even one village will be left where no party worker has visited, we will go there and have food, chaupal will be held where the Congress’ unfulfilled promises will be discussed,

Each vidhan sabha seat will be visited by senior leaders, all panchayat samitis will have local leaders playing social engineering cards, gram panchayat residents will be contacted via youth workers. Not even one house will be left which BJP workers will not have visited.

So we are confident that we will register a thumping victory, rooting out the Gehlot government and also ensuring that Gehlot loses this time from his home turf. Our USP is that we have good netas, Good Niyat and Good Niti.

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) With the BJP pitting Maharana Pratap's descendant Vishvaraj Singh Mewar against Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Dr. CP Joshi, the contest in the Nathdwara seat is among the most-talked-about in the desert state.

Everyone is waiting to see if the 2008 episode, when CP Joshi lost the Assembly election by just one vote, will be repeated this time around.

It is said that apart from Ashok Gehlot, Dr. Joshi was also being considered as a chief ministerial candidate at that time, but his dream was shattered by just one vote.

In the historic 2008 elections a total of 51 per cent votes were cast in which the BJP's Kalyan Singh got 62,216 votes, while CP Joshi got 62,215 votes.

CP Joshi was elected MLA from Nathdwara in 1980 and after that he won Assembly elections from that seat in 1985, 1998, 2003 and 2018. Apart from being a five-time MLA, he was also an MP from Bhilwara once.

Given CP Joshi’s impressive track record, defeating him will not be easy for the BJP here. Hence, the saffron party has fielded Vishvaraj Singh Mewar, who belongs to the erstwhile Mewar royal family.

This descendant of Maharana Pratap was declared the candidate for the Nathdwara seat just three days after joining the BJP.

Now, questions are being raised if the 2008 episode can be repeated in Nathdwara.

Political experts say that though this seat is a stronghold of the Congress because of CP Joshi, the BJP has been lucky here a few times, especially after fielding a Rajput candidate. Also, the victory of the BJP and the defeat of the Congress’ stalwart by just one vote are historic, and people are keenly watching the contest this time around.

Nathdwara, where thousands of devotees from all over the country flock to offer prayers to Lord Shrinathji, is just 45 km from Udaipur city, making it the nearest city to the capital of Mewar. Therefore, Udaipur also makes an impact here.

The number of voters in Nathdwara is 2.34 lakh and of this, about 80,000 voters are from the Rajput community. After this it is dominated by the tribals and then the Brahmin community.

The competition between the two contestants will be tough because while CP Joshi has been a MLA from this seat five times, the Mewar scion is also a renowned name. He has often raised his voice for the Rajputs and led from the front when the community raised objections to the film ‘Padmaavat’.

Mewar has also been vocal for the cause of the environment and has been voicing his concern over the destruction of architecture in the old city of Udaipur.

Also, he is against the altering of the centuries-old established water management system, which he says can prove disastrous in times to come.

With two strong contenders in the fray, only time will tell if Nathdwara will create history yet again by changing political equations in this much-talked-about seat.

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) Thursday marked a highly eventful day for the Congress in Rajasthan as the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at the residence of Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasara. A notice was served to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav in a FEMA case as well.

According to sources, the ED sleuths stayed at Dotasara's Jaipur-Sikar residences for 8 hours as the raids are connected to the coaching academy in Sikar. There is evidence proving that 4 proxy companies existed instead of a direct partnership between the coaching centre and politicians.

After these raids, a political backlash started as CM Gehlot said that the Central government is using the ED like a locust swarm.

The ED has found evidence of four proxy companies instead of a direct partnership, confirmed sources.

They said, “the ED is trying to understand the money trail (money laundering and financial irregularities) related to Kalam Academy Centre. The ED is also trying to find out who are the people behind this and how the transactions were done.

On Thursday, ED officials reached the houses of Dotasara in Sikar and Jaipur almost simultaneously. Three officers reached the residence in Jaipur in 3 different vehicles. Three officers also reached the house in Sikar.

Dotasara was present at his residence in Jaipur. The ED took action at his Sikar residence in the presence of his son and family members.

According to sources, the ED officials did not interrogate Dotasara or his family members but just scanned the files, papers and diaries. No questions were asked to anyone about money, jewellery or other properties. A similar raid was conducted at his house in Sikar. The officials there too did not ask any questions, but only scrutinized the documents.

The ED officials remained in both the houses for about 8 hours. After this the teams returned to their offices.

According to sources, the name of Kalam Academy of Shekhawati had appeared in the paper leak case in the teacher recruitment examination. The state government had handed over the investigation to the SOG.

More than 60 people including RPSC members Babulal Katara, Sher Singh Meena, Bhupendra Saran, the main accused in the paper leak cases, were arrested by the SOG.

The SOG was investigating the case when the ED also joined in on the complaint of MP Kirori Lal Meena, and raided Kalam Academy located on Nawalgarh Road in Sikar on August 7.

In this raid, about 12 ED officers reached the academy in 3 vehicles. Kalam Academy has two buildings here. The ED raided the main premises of the administrative building.

Kirori Lal had alleged in the complaint that the name of Kalam Academy is linked to Dotasara. After this, he made these claims several times in public forums also.

In the previous raids, the ED examined the documents of Kalam Academy and of the directors. The data of the candidates preparing for the REET exam and registered in Kalam was taken.

On the basis of the complaint, a financial investigation was conducted in the academy. Records of money transactions, records regarding property like land etc. were also scrutinized.

According to sources, it had become clear to the ED through the raids two months ago that there are 4 proxy companies associated with Kalam Academy, in which transactions are taking place. According to sources, this is the main reason for the ED raid on Dotasara's house on Thursday.

The ED now wants to know how the money coming into Kalam Academy was distributed among the partners and how much of it reached the proxy companies and which people are connected with the proxy companies.

In a proxy company, a person makes another person a nominee in his own company. The nominee has all the statutory rights related to the company. The face of the company is also the nominee rather than the chief executive.

Kalam Academy was earlier also embroiled in a controversy after the REET 2021 paper was leaked. After this, the paper of the Senior Teacher Recruitment Examination was also out. In this case also the name of Kalam Academy figured.

The collusion of the coaching operators of Sikar also came to light during the interrogation of Bhupendra Saran and Sher Singh, involved in the REET, Senior Teacher Recruitment Examination paper leak cases.

During interrogation, it was found that Sher Singh had dictated the questions appearing in the question paper in the coaching centres even before the Senior Teacher Examination.

The ED got a clue that Sher Singh had dictated the questions at Kalam Academy.

Meanwhile, there has been a flurry of statements from politicians.

Former deputy CM Sachin Pilot said, “I strongly condemn the ED raid on Rajasthan Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara. An ED summon has also been given to Vaibhav Gehlot, son of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The BJP cannot scare the Congress leaders with such tactics. All the leaders and workers of the state Congress are standing together in solidarity.”

BJP state president CP Joshi,, in response to questions regarding the ED action, attacked the Ashok Gehlot government saying that if the Congress government is honest, then why be afraid of the ED's raids?

"If his son and the party president are honest then he will be acquitted. They are creating a hue and cry, meaning there is something wrong. Ashok Gehlot's government has ravaged the state by becoming a corrupt termite for the entire 5 years. They have played with the future of millions of youth. More than 17 papers were out, but Chief Minister Gehlot ji did not take any concrete action,” he said.

Dotasara meanwhile said, “the BJP only wants to waste our time and scare us by taking such action. If I am dishonest, I am ready to stay in jail for the rest of my life.”

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Congress and the BJP are following the strategy of social engineering in selecting candidates on different seats for the forthcoming Assembly polls in Rajasthan.

Both parties have released two lists each and while the BJP has issued tickets to 124 candidates, the Congress has given tickets on 76 seats.

Social engineering is clearly visible in ticket distribution as both the parties have tried to woo almost every major community by including their representatives. However, tickets have also been distributed as per individual vote pulling power.

Political experts told IANS that more importance has been given to the Jat community by both the parties.

“The Jat community has been given the maximum importance in the lists of both the BJP and the Congress party. Considering the caste plurality and influence in Rajasthan, till now the BJP has issued 21 (17 per cent) tickets to Jat leaders while the Congress has given 15 (20 per cent) tickets to them.

“The Jat community is expected to remain dominant in the forthcoming lists also. In every election, around 35 MLAs are elected from the Jat community only.

“Further, in its usual style, the BJP has also given a good number of tickets to Brahmin and Vaishya candidates by fielding them on 20 seats. This means that so far the BJP has given more than 16 per cent tickets to these two communities.

“If we talk about the Congress, the party has so far given 11 tickets (15 per cent) to the Brahmin and Vaishya community.

“Further, till now, the BJP has given about ten per cent tickets to the Rajput community and the Congress just about five per cent. However, about 125 Congress tickets are yet to be declared. In such a situation, the tickets for these communities may increase in the future.

“The Congress has fielded six Muslim candidates in the lists released so far while the BJP has no Muslim face till now. On the other hand, while the BJP has given tickets to two Sindhi candidates, the Congress has fielded none till now,” they said.

Interestingly, an almost equal number of tickets have been given to Gurjar candidates from both the parties. So far, five Gurjar candidates have got tickets from the BJP and four from the Congress.

“Both the parties have given tickets to Brahmin candidates from Sanganer (Jaipur), Bikaner West and Kekri seats. Here Brahmins have the largest and most influential vote bank.

“However, in Malviya Nagar, the BJP has fielded Kalicharan Saraf, the face of the Vaishya community while the Congress has placed its bet on a Brahmin face by fielding Archana Sharma. Brahmin and Vaishya voters are most influential in Malviya Nagar.

“Brahmins are the biggest vote bank in Nathdwara where the Congress candidate is the strongman CP Joshi, whereas the BJP has given a ticket to Vishvaraj Singh Mewar of the erstwhile Mewar royal family. Keeping in mind the emotions related to Maharana Pratap, the BJP has fielded a Rajput face from this important seat of Mewar,” they said.

The influence of the Jat community is visible in Laxmangarh, Mandawa, Baytu, Jhunjhunu, Nawan and Deeg-Kumher.

Experts said this is the reason why the candidates of both the parties here are Jats.

“However, along with Jats, the Gurjar and Java vote banks are also dominant in Deeg-Kumher. Jat and Rajput vote banks are important in Parbatsar seat of Nagaur. Jat MLA Ram Niwas Gawriya is the Congress candidate from here, whereas the BJP has placed its bet on a Rajput face, Mansingh Kinsariya.

“Similarly, there is a fight between Jat and Bishnoi faces in Nokha. Talking about Sawai Madhopur, Meena, Gurjar and Muslims are the dominant vote banks here. Kirodi Lal Meena is the candidate from the BJP here, whereas Gurjars and Muslims together form the second largest vote bank. The Congress MLA from here is Danish Abrar,” they say.

Political experts say that caste is the main basis for giving tickets on all the seats.

“Parties give tickets only after considering the caste equation of the area. But sometimes the influence of one family or polarisation, are also important factors. Many times, despite there being no caste basis, a leader gets the ticket due to the influence of his/her family in the area. On the same basis, leaders also win elections,” they point out.

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) A big fight is on the cards in the Lachmangarh Assembly seat as the Congress has fielded its stalwart state PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra while it has been a ‘ghar wapsi’ for the BJP’s tall leader Subhash Maharia.

According to party leaders, the BJP has brought in Maharia as he can take on Dotasra in the PCC chief’s own constituency Lachmangarh. Incidentally, Dotasra is aiming to return to power in Lachmangarh for the fourth time.

The two veteran Jat leaders will lock horns after a decade. In the 2013 Assembly polls, Dotasra had defeated Maharia by a huge margin and retained the seat.

Dotasra has used his influence in government circles to declare Sikar divisional headquarters. He also claims to have done development work worth over Rs 1,000 crore in the last five years in his constituency.

However, the Enforcement Directorate raided his residences in Jaipur and Sikar recently due to allegations of his alleged connect with the REET (Rajasthan Examination Eligibility for Teachers) paper leak case. Now, everyone is waiting to see if this raid has any impact on his candidature.

For Maharia, who returned to the BJP fold in May this year, it is a do-or-die battle for his political future.

Maharia had contested the 2019 parliamentary election from Sikar as a Congress candidate. He was elected thrice on the BJP symbol from the Sikar constituency in 1998, 1999 and 2004 before he joined the Congress in 2016.

Maharia had served as the Union Minister of State for Rural Development in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1999 to 2004. After his defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP denied him a ticket in 2014, resulting in him parting ways with the saffron party and joining the Congress.

After joining the Congress, Maharia campaigned for Dotasra in the 2018 Assembly elections and ensured his victory.

However, soon after Maharia returned to the BJP in May, he said the Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government had failed to fulfil its promises and corruption had grown. Maharia added that he was happy to have returned to the BJP.

"We will create history in the 2023 Assembly elections and in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. We will make efforts to increase the BJP's vote percentage by 20 per cent in the Sikar region," he said.

Dotasra meanwhile is also leaving no stone unturned to ensure his victory and is sharing tweets like “Vijayi Bhavah, Yashasvi Bhavah, Lachmangarh” #Congress phir se.

So who will come out the winner in Sikar is a billion dollar question. Locals say that it will be the biggest contest in the state which would cost around Rs 100 crore. They can only wait and watch as the big battle for Lachmangarh plays out in November.

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) Both the Congress and the BJP, have been accusing each other of nepotism in politics and criticising it time and again. However, despite this public posturing, both the parties have given tickets to family members of their veteran leaders in Rajasthan.

There are about 81 seats in Rajasthan, which are considered to be the strongholds of various leaders. Of these, 40 seats have been pocket boroughs of certain leaders and their families for decades.

Between them, the two parties have given 26 tickets to relatives of their senior leaders. This includes 15 sons, six daughters-granddaughters, three wives, one daughter-in-law and one relative of veteran leaders.

So far, the BJP has distributed 124 tickets in Rajasthan and the Congress 76. Of these, the BJP gave tickets to 11 candidates and the Congress to 15 candidates whose family members have been MLAs, MPs and Ministers.

The BJP has given a ticket to Vijay Bainsla, son of Kirori Singh Bainsla, former MP candidate from Deoli-Uniara. Next is Diya Kumari from Vidyadhar Nagar who is the granddaughter of former MP Gayatri Devi and comes from the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur.

Siddhi Kumari from Bikaner, whose grandfather Karni Singh was MP from 1952 to 1977, has got a BJP ticket. Jhabar Singh Kharra, the son of Harlal Singh Kharra, the four-time MLA from Shrimadhopur has got a ticket this time from his father’s constituency.

Manjeet Chaudhary has got a ticket from Mundawar and he is the son of former MLA Dharampal Chaudhary. Shailesh Singh, son of former Minister Digambarsingh, has got a ticket from Deeg Kumher.

Similarly, Ramswaroop Lamba has got a ticket from Nasirabad. He is the son of former Minister and MP Sanwarlal Jat. Dr. Jyoti Mirdha who is the granddaughter of former MP Nathuram Mirdha will contest from Nagaur on the BJP symbol.

Kanhaiyalal Meena will contest from Dhariyawad. He is the son of former Dhariyavad MLA Gautamlal Meena. Deepti Maheshwari will contest from Rajsamand and she is the daughter of former Minister Kiran Maheshwari.

Sumita Bhinchar is the daughter-in-law of Makrana’s former MLA Shriram Bhinchar and will now contest from that seat.

Close on the heels of the BJP, the Congress, too, has fielded many leaders with family connections. For instance, Sushila Doody is the wife of former Opposition leader Rameshwar Doody, who will now contest on the Congress symbol from Nokha. Anil Sharma from Sardar Shahar is the son of former MLA Bhawar Lal Sharma while Brajendra Ola is the son of former Union Minister Shishram Ola.

Zuber Khan who has been given a ticket from Ramgarh, is the husband of Congress MLA Safiya Zuber.

Manoj Meghwal who has been fielded from Sujangarh is the son of former Minister Bhanwarlal Meghwal while Rita Choudhary is the daughter of Ramnarayan Choudhary, who won from Mandawa six times.

Danish Abrar who has got the ticket from Sawai Madhopur, is the son of former Rajya Sabha MP Abrar Ahmed, while Sachin Pilot who will be fighting from Tonk is the son of former Union Minister Rajesh Pilot and former MLA-MP Rama Pilot.

Vijaypal Mirdha fielded from Degana belongs to the Nathuram Mirdha family and is the son of former MLA Richhpal Mirdha.

A ticket has also been given to Divya Maderna from Osian. She is the granddaughter of former Assembly Speaker Parasram Maderna and daughter of former Minister Mahipal Maderna.

Mahindra Vishnoi has been fielded from Luni. He is the grandson of former Minister Ramsingh Vishnoi and son of former MLA Malkhan Vishnoi.

Preeti Shaktawat who has been fielded from Vallabhnagar, is the daughter-in-law of former Minister Gulab Singh Shaktawat and the wife of former MLA Gajendra Shaktawat.

Vivek Dhakad who has been fielded from Mandalgarh is the son of Kanhaiyalal Dhakad, while Rohit Bohra who got a ticket from Rajakheda is son of former Minister Pradyuman Singh.

Surprisingly, a few days ago, Congress incharge Sukhjinder Singh Randhwara, had expressed worries on increasing nepotism in the party.

Speaking exclusively to IANS, he said, “Nepotism is one factor that we need to check. This is one area where we will work.”

In fact, the BJP has also been trying to end nepotism in its ranks.

In the last bypolls in 2021, it did not give tickets to relatives of those who passed away, except for Deepti Maheshwari, daughter of MLA Kiran Maheshwari. While the party lost the two bypolls, it won one by-election where Deepti was fielded.

“The central leadership did an experiment and boycotted nepotism in bypolls which did not work in our favour. We won where we fielded Deepti,” said a senior saffron party worker in a bid to explain why nepotism had made a comeback in the party in this election.

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) The BJP seems worried in Rajasthan as it is facing challenges from its people.

There is strong opposition from nearly 24 candidates of the saffron party in the 124 seats declared so far. Among these, there are ten seats which are said to be the strongholds of the BJP. Incidentally, the party has 61 bastions in Rajasthan.

The ten seats where the party is facing rebellion are the constituencies where the BJP has won twice or more. Since victory is certain on these seats, the large number of ticket aspirants has become a reason for the rebellion in the party. Top BJP leaders are worried that continued protests in these ten winning seats may result in losses to the party in its strongholds.

The Congress, too, seems to be in a similar situation. Though the ruling party has declared candidates on just 76 seats, there is opposition on more than half a dozen seats. There is a threat of rebellion and it has already started on three seats.

Let’s analyse the BJP’s seats where protests are growing:

Chittorgarh: The BJP's Chandrabhan Akya won by 12,000 votes in 2013 and 24,000 votes in 2018. Now his ticket has been cancelled without any reason being accorded for it. Narpat Singh Rajvi, who has been an MLA twice, was shifted to this seat. If Akya contests as an independent, the BJP may lose Chittorgarh, because the Congress had won this seat in 2008.

Jhotwara: Rajpal Singh Shekhawat won here in 2008 and 2013 but lost in 2018 as he got just 1.16 lakh votes. Now that Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is an official candidate of the BJP from the Jhotwara seat, Shekhawat’s supporters are angry over his ticket being given to the MP. Dissatisfaction of the supporters can create problems here for the party.

Sanganer: Ghanshyam Tiwari won here by 33,000 votes in 2008 and by 65,000 votes in 2013. Thereafter, he launched a new party in 2018 and got just 17,000 votes and his security deposit was confiscated. The BJP's Ashok Lahoti won by 35,000 votes here but now, Lahoti has been denied a ticket by the party. This has led to protests but the party is not unduly worried and believes that the new candidate Bhajanlal Sharma, who is a BJP General Secretary, will win here.

Kishangarh: A Congress candidate won here in 2008 and the BJP's Bhagirath Chaudhary won in 2013. However, Bhagirath Chaudhary’s ticket was cancelled in 2018 and given to Vikas Chaudhary. He lost to independent Suresh Tak by 17,000 votes. Bhagirath Chaudhary was elected as an MP in 2019 and now again he has been given a ticket. Vikas is now planning to contest as an independent. His post on X, “Maine Imandari se Mehnat ki thi,” with pictures showing him crying, went viral.

Udaipur: This is a major stronghold of the BJP. Gulab Chand Kataria, who won the last three-consecutive elections from here, is now the Governor of Assam. Kataria had won the last election by 24,000 votes. It is said that tickets were distributed based on his opinion. Local leaders of the BJP are protesting over this. Deputy Mayor Paras Deshmukh also took out a rally against the ticket distribution where his supporters raised slogans like, "Tara Manzoor Nahi", while opposing the candidature of Tarachand Jain. “I am still with the party and urge the top leaders to reconsider the decision for Udaipur City," said Paras Singhvi, a contender for the seat.

Rajsamand: The BJP has been winning this seat for the last three elections. Kiran Maheshwari was elected MLA from here in 2008, 2013 and 2018. After Kiran's death, the ticket was given to her daughter Deepti and she won. Then there was another bypoll in 2021 and this time Deepti won by just 5,000 votes. However, now there are protests against her candidature as locals consider her an outsider and the BJP’s party office was also ransacked because of this.

Sanchore: The BJP has lost thrice here due to a split. When independent MLA Jeevaram was made a candidate in 2008, he lost by 24,000 votes. In 2018, when Danaram was fielded, he got 58,000 votes, while Jeevaram, who rebelled, got 49,000. Eventually, the Congress won the Sanchore seat. In the fight between Jeevaram and Danaram, the party decided to give the ticket to MP Devji Patel. Now there is huge opposition to this and Devji Patel’s cavalcade also came under attack. If the rebellion is not stopped, then the BJP may lose this seat.

Sriganganagar: Former BJP candidate Vinita Ahuja indicated that she would contest the elections as an independent candidate after the party gave its ticket to Jaideep Bihani. Local leaders and supporters of Ahuja held a press conference. "The community has decided unanimously to field Vinita Ahuja as an independent candidate," community leader Virendra Rajpal said in Sriganganagar.

Bikaner East: In Bikaner East, former chairman of the Urban Development Trust, Mahavir Ranka, has held a meeting with his supporters and registered his protest against BJP candidate Siddhi Kumari.

Bundi: Slogans like, “BJP tujh se bair nahi, Dogra teri khair nahi" echoed in the BJP after Ashok Dogra was given the ticket here for the fourth time, in the party’s second list of 83 candidates released earlier. Businessman-turned-politician Ashok Dogra, 70, a Kashmiri by birth, settled with his family in Bundi when he was a young man. He began his innings in politics in 2008 under the mentorship of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. He lodged his maiden win against the Congress’ Mamta Sharma, repeating the win thrice in Assembly polls though in 2018, it was by a slim margin against twice MLA and former Minister Harimohan Sharma.

Even the Congress is facing big opposition on these three seats.

Malviya Nagar: The seat has been with the BJP since years. Archana Sharma, the Congress candidate, has already lost two elections. The first was by 48,000 votes and the next by a thin margin of 1,700 votes. She holds the status of Minister of State and has now been given a ticket too. There is a threat of factionalism and Vipra Board chairman, Mahesh Sharma has stepped down in protest.

Bikaner West: State Minister BD Kalla won by 6,190 votes in 2018 and now, Congress leader Rajkumar Kiradu has expressed his protest by resigning here because BD Kalla got the ticket again.

Dungarpur: The Congress has again fielded sitting MLA Ganesh Ghogra from Dungarpur. In such a situation, many Congress leaders of the area are angry with the party. In an interesting development Bichhiwara Pradhan Devram Roat has demanded that the candidate be changed. He has also announced that in case this does not happen, he will contest the elections as an independent.

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 18 (SocialNews.XYZ): As protests continue unabated in Rajasthan after the release of its first list of candidates, the BJP is now taking a serious look at the candidates, said party leaders adding that the second list however will be released only after the Congress list .

Veteran party leaders from Rajasthan were in New Delhi on Tuesday to attend the core committee meeting where a brainstorming session was held to discuss the candidates and other strategies for the assembly polls.

Those present at the meeting included state election in-charge Pralhad Joshi, state in-charge Arun Singh, former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore, deputy leader of opposition Satish Poonia, Union ministers Gajendra Shekhawat, Arjun Meghwal, Kailash Chaudhary, state party president CP Joshi, and other seniors like Chandrashekhar, Vijaya Rahatkar, Nitin Patel and Kuldeep Vishnoi.

The next meeting of the core committee is scheduled on Thursday while the CEC meeting is proposed on October 21 which will reportedly be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah among others. 

Party workers said that the strong protests in Rajasthan after the release of the first list of candidates has come as a shock and surprise to the senior leaders. 

Many of those denied tickets have announced to contest the polls as Independents. A few loyalists of Vasundhara Raje have also been protesting after they did not get tickets.

Party workers said that the senior leaders have taken the polls without much seriousness and hence came the first list without any detailed homework, evoking strong reactions from those who were denied tickets. 

BJP national president JP Nadda was in Udaipur and Jodhpur on Monday where he shared tips with workers on fighting the elections unitedly. 

He will be in Kota and Ajmer on Wednesday where he will talk to the workers before the release of the second list.

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) A direct narrative of a Prime Minister Narendra Modi versus Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot contest has been created in Rajasthan, which is making it different from the earlier Assembly elections of 2013 and 2018. In those elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi led from the front, but this time, Ashok Gehlot himself is playing on the front foot.

The other differentiating factor is that the elections of 2013 and 2018 were projected as a Vasundhara versus Gehlot contest, however, this time Raje is not in the picture. So it's clearly evident that this time, it shall be Modi versus Gehlot.

Modi has come to the state eight times and meetings of the BJP’s National President JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah are also held at regular intervals. Further, the BJP has fielded central ministers along with local leaders in the desert state.

Nadda, Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and more than 10 Union Ministers have visited Rajasthan to participate in the BJP's ‘Parivartan Yatra’.

On the Congress’ side, Rahul Gandhi has had three meetings and the Congress’ National President Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi have had one meeting each. Further, Sachin Pilot has held some meetings at his level.

But Gehlot has held 100 meetings till now. In fact, he had come into election mode soon after presenting the state budget and started touring the districts.

With many populist announcements, including free mobile phones in the budget, an attempt was made to change the political narrative by announcing new districts on the day the budget was passed.

Now let’s understand how the narrative of Modi versus Gehlot was created.

The BJP contested polls from 2003 till the last elections by declaring its chief ministerial face. In such a situation, it was seen as a Raje versus Gehlot or Raje versus Congress fight. This time the BJP is going to contest elections on a collective leadership.

Modi has declared that the BJP’s symbol ‘lotus’ will be the face of the party during elections. It is clear from this that no single leader from Rajasthan will be the face in these polls. The PM will be the face while other leaders will have side roles. With the BJP not declaring any leader of Rajasthan as its chief ministerial face, the Modi versus Gehlot narrative is now visible in the elections.

Also Modi, in his eight meetings in Rajasthan so far, has fiercely attacked the Gehlot government by taking the CM’s name. He has also made political attacks on Gehlot in every meeting, raising issues like the Gehlot-Pilot feud, paper leak, corruption and the Lal Diary.

After Modi's blitz, the BJP also started carrying out political attacks with the same force. After the PM targeted Gehlot, the political narrative was seen as PM versus CM.

On September 27, in the public dialogue programme of ‘Mission 2030’ in Jaipur, Gehlot said, “Next time the Prime Minister comes to Rajasthan (he must) give a guarantee that if your (BJP) government comes, none of our schemes will be stopped.”

“He should guarantee that the Old Pension Scheme will be there. The insurance of Rs 25 lakh that we gave will remain. We have made laws, they will remain in place, if the Modi government comes back,” said Gehlot.

Meanwhile, Modi took a swipe at Gehlot in the meeting in Chittorgarh and said, “Some people sitting in Delhi do not believe it, but I am saying that Gehlot knows that this government is going.

"Gehlot himself is saying that as soon as the BJP government comes to power, the schemes of the Congress government will be stopped. I assure the public that we will not stop any scheme. Instead, we will make those plans better. Action will definitely be taken against those who have looted the money of the poor.”

On October 3, Gehlot hit back at Modi and said, “We will keep the welfare schemes implemented. What is your definition of welfare schemes?”

“Who can trust that what you are saying will be implemented? First apply it at the Centre.”

“I had told the Prime Minister that he should guarantee that if the (BJP) government is formed, he will keep our plans intact, but the Prime Minister gave an evasive answer,” Gehlot said.

Rajasthan is not the only state where there is a PM vs CM poll battle. In West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh polls, too, a local face was not put forward by the BJP.

However, the BJP faces more risk in choosing a PM vs CM narrative. If the results are not in favour of the BJP in the elections, then the prestige of the Prime Minister is at stake.

This has happened in Karnataka, Bengal and Himachal. Although the BJP turned the issue in a different direction and put the responsibility of the defeat on other leaders, the risk factor cannot be denied.

A PM vs CM poll battle in Rajasthan will be a big challenge for Gehlot no doubt. The aggressive manner in which Modi is creating a narrative by raising issues of failures of the Congress government in the state is a big challenge for the CM.

However, the seasoned politician Gehlot is also making a sharp counterattack on the issues raised by Modi. In an election with a PM vs CM narrative, there is an opportunity for Gehlot to increase his stature while the political risk is lesser.

If the election results are in his favour then Gehlot's stature will increase and he will get a chance to say that he defeated the PM on the strategy front.

If the election results are not in Gehlot's favour then it will be said that his fight was with the Prime Minister of the country and the big machinery. So what if he lost!

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been on a face-off with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot ever since he defeated Vaibhav Gehlot, the CM's son, in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 from Jodhpur, which has been Gehlot’s home turf for the last four decades.

The tussle between the Rajasthan CM and Shekhawat is an open secret now. The two leaders have engaged in war of words on many issues, of which the Sanjeevani scam has been a burning one. There are also speculation that the upcoming Assembly polls in Rajasthan might see a Gehlot vs Shekhawat contest.

Shekhawat, who has filed a defamation case against Gehlot, had said on Friday that if the CM publicly apologises for his statement, he will consider forgiving him.

The case pertains to alleged "misleading statements" made by Gehlot against Shekhawat in connection with the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam.

Gehlot had said after a budget review meeting at the state secretariat on February 21 that the entire Shekhawat family, including his parents and wife, were involved in the scam.

IANS spoke to Shekawhat on several issues, including the state government's PR agency Design Box and many more.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

IANS: There have been talks that you will be fielded from Sardarpura...

A: There is no such discussion on the party platform as of now... In fact, there has been no discussion on any MP contesting from anywhere till date. It is the party's parliamentary board that decides if an MP will contest the elections or continue working for the organisation... It is the party's prerogative, and nobody can decide on his own. However, I am not afraid of being fielded from Sardarpura or from any other seat for that matter. If the party asks me to contest from any seat, I will do so.

In fact, we have already contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections face-to-face, as Gehlot was the Chief Minister and his son was contesting against me; it was virtually him and his machinery contesting the polls against us. So we have already experienced this fight.

IANS: Gehlot has been accusing you in the Sanjeevani scam. Has it dented your image?

A: Not even 1 per cent... It’s absolute political vendetta. No one can say that Shekhawat was involved in the scam. In fact, it was Gehlot’s son who sold a hotel company’s share to a Mauritius-based man for Rs 40,000 after buying it for Rs 100. No one can say that I did anything wrong by any stretch of imagination.

IANS: Is Vasundhara Raje angry that she was missing from BJP’s Parivartan Yatra?

A: I don’t think she is angry. This is part of her nature. She came to the Parivartan Yatra at its beginning and in the end. She did not go to any other yatras in between. I would say that this is her nature. Also, she has had personal issues, her daughter-in-law is not keeping well, so she is a little disturbed.

IANS: There is speculation that the Rajput community is annoyed that Vasundhara is being sidelined?

A. Rajput voters are hardcore BJP voters, and it cannot be true that they are annoyed because of one leader. In the last elections, there were some issues due to which a few Rajput voters were silent, but they were spontaneous decisions. At that time, they were angry on many issues, such as I was not made the state BJP President, there was the Anandpal encounter, the Chhatra Singh encounter in Jaisalmer... So these issues triggered anger in the community.

See, it is the party which makes a leader and a leader gets popular because of the party. A leaders’ height is decided by the party. The Bharatiya Janata Party has a tradition of bringing about change. However, we will keep working together. It’s the top leadership which decides on such issues. I believe Vasundhara Raje is also clear and has no doubt in this context.

IANS: Fractions within the party have become a common issue across the state. What would you say?

A: Aspirations along with a few gaps are okay in politics. However, we don’t have as many differences as the Congress. See, the difference between the Congress and the BJP is that our top leadership has dominance and prominence. In Congress, the high command was challenged and despite this, Gehlot remains the CM. Is it possible in the BJP? No. Our higher leadership has strong prominence and dominance unlike the Congress.

IANS: Gehlot has been taking your name as an accused in Sanjeevani scam. Now you have filed a defamation suit against him. Any specific reason?

A: See, initially I tolerated the allegations silently. However, when he spoke about my mother who passed away a year back, I decided to file a defamation suit.

Gehlot has been in the court seven times. He now has only two options -- either he makes a public apology, or he faces punishment... He has no other way. He recently apologised in court for his 'rampant corruption in judiciary' remark. He will have to apologise in this case too.

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) A surprising silence between the Gehlot and Pilot camps seen in the last few months was being discussed in political corridors in Rajasthan. However, recently this lull was broken when Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot took a dig at Sachin Pilot, terming him as the "High Command".

This one sentence revealed the existing ongoing fight within the party even as the Assembly polls are nearand exposed the fake narrative set by the party that all is well within its confines in the state.

Dismissing the talks, Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, while speaking to IANS on fractions in Congress, had said, “Where are fractions? Have you ever seen anybody from our party speaking against each other.”

However, the drama of burying the hatchet, at least in public, to project a united front in the upcoming Assembly elections was over when Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot once again took a dig at Sachin Pilot.

In a query on Pilot's role in ticket distribution at a programme in Jaipur on Thursday, Gehlot said, ”Sachin Pilot is the leader of our party. Now he himself has become the high command. There is no need to tell the high command (what to do).

"When the high command itself distributes the tickets, then Pilot will also have a role (in the exercise),” he said, adding, "Being a CWC member is a big thing.”

As per political experts, “The comment appears to be a jibe at Pilot's membership of the party's highest decision making body.”

It was like a temporary truce which was being displayed by two Congress camps ever since the high command called a meeting in Delhi a few months ago. Ever since this meeting, neither Pilot group spoke on anything controversial nor Gehlot camp, said the party workers.

However, the timing of this comment is also in discussion. Congress leaders said that Gehlot and PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra recently had a tiff over the party’s consultant agency ‘Design box'. Dotasra had issues with this agency who was portraying only the CM's face in all its posters with no other signs and symbols of Congress party and no other leaders.

He reportedly took this issue to Congress high command as well which was equally unhappy over the posters, said sources.

Meanwhile Naresh Arora, co-founder, Design Box, in his post on X said, "Sections of the media are cooking up imaginary stories of a meeting between me and the honourable RPCC chief Shri Govind Singh Dotasara. I have the utmost respect for him and for Shri Rahul Gandhi. Vested interests trying to sabotage the Congress campaign before elections will not succeed -- a Congress victory in Rajasthan is a foregone conclusion, he said tagging @RahulGandhi and @GovindDotasra.

Meanwhile, party worker Sushi Asopa from the Pilot camp, while speaking to IANS, said, "Sachin Pilot is now CWC member which is the highest decision-making body in Congress. Maybe his camp and he is not so happy with Pilot being the CWC member and so comes this comment.

"In fact Gehlot too was given a chance to become high command (by offering a president role of Congress) however he did not accept,” said Asopa.

He further said, “It’s one-man army as of now in Rajasthan and Gehlot is a king so he is playing from the front foot without considering high command it seems; if victory, it will be his gain, and if party loses, it will be his loss," he added.

Meanwhile a Gehlot camp worker from CMO said, “This statement should not be blown up unnecessarily as it simply says that Pilot himself is a CWC member. So why should we decide on his tickets as CWC and AICC are decision making bodies in Congress.”

All eyes are on Pilot to counteract. Whether he comments or keeps doing what he has been doing for the last many months… drawing big crowds in his gathering and showing his strength yet being silent.

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) When will the first list of candidates come out, this seems to have become a billion dollar question in the Congress, as well as in the BJP camp.

While Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had said a few months ago that the party would announce the list of candidates two months before elections, speculation is rife as to when this list will come.

Speaking to IANS, Congress state incharge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, “We are planning on bringing winnable candidates. Our focus is on the youth. Our first list should come out soon after the Model Code of Conduct is announced.”

There is major speculation in the Congress party that has been hit hard by factionalism due to the feud between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot. Also, there are reports that around 30 per cent tickets will be cut this time in the wake of the anti-incumbency factor hitting local MLAs.

However, Randhawa refuted reports of factionalism and said that the party stands united. “There is no divide and no two camps. Have you seen anyone speaking against another in the last few months,” he asked, without taking names of any leader specifically. Meanwhile, he accepted the fact that nepotism was a challenge in the party and the High Command was working to weed out this problem in Rajasthan.

However, it’s not only the Congress that is contemplating on its list of candidates and their winnability factor, but the saffron party, too, seems to be sailing in the same boat.

Recently Union Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President JP Nadda and General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh made a surprise visit to Jaipur where they had a meeting with senior party leaders of Rajasthan. Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore, Deputy Leader of Opposition Satish Poonia, Organisation Secretary Chandrashekhar, MP Rajyavardhan Rathore and a few others participated in the meeting. There was a surprise entry by MP Diya Kumari, who went after meeting Amit Shah for ten minutes.

There were reports that Shah and the team would meet RSS leaders of the state too, however, this meeting was cancelled without any explanation and held in Delhi later. In the Delhi meeting, Rajasthan BJP leaders were asked to give a list with names of winnable candidates. However, sources said that the names given by the state leaders did not match with the names favoured by the party leadership and hence the release of the list was delayed.

BL Santosh came to Jaipur again and discussed the names with senior leaders and hence it is expected that the first list will be released soon after a consensus is built.

Meanwhile, the party is also facing testing times as senior leader Vasundhara Raje has been organising her own gatherings and pulling huge crowds.

While party insiders say that she is trying to convince the top leadership of her strong candidature for the Chief Minister’s job by making a show of strength, Prime Minister Modi has declared that the BJP’s symbol ‘lotus’ will be the face of the party during elections. While it is clear from Modi’s directive that no single leader from Rajasthan will be the face in these polls, the party is reluctant to contest elections without a face.

However, Narayan Panchariya, the BJP’s election committee incharge refuted such claims. “Raje has been a senior member of our family and her contribution to our party is immense. In fact, recently, she was in Jharkhand and was the star of the BJP show there. She was assigned four constituencies in Jharkhand for rallies to mark nine years of the Modi government, and she did her job well,” he said.

Dwelling on the issue of tickets, he said, "It will come soon. Anytime now."

Meanwhile party workers from the Congress and the BJP are eagerly awaiting the list and agree that factionalism is making it tough for the leaders to shortlist winnable candidates.

“We expect that the youth and women will be given more chances in this election”, leaders of both parties told IANS. 

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) As the elections approach, there is curiosity about what position and role former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will get as she stayed away from the recent Parivartan Yatras and was seen at the gathering only at its start and finish.

In fact, in all her recent speeches, she has been talking only of women's struggles, demon Mahishahur, crisis and so on

In the last four years and eight months, Raje has been continuously making headlines for missing from party posters, for staying aloof from party programmes and also for drawing huge crowds in her own gatherings.

It was also seen that party leaders failed to attract huge gatherings in their Partivartan and Jan Akrosh yatras, however Raje on her own has been able to draw big crowds.

Sources say that she is keen to be announced as the CM face for these assembly polls, but the party leaders since the last few months have been insisting that the polls will be contested projecting the party symbol, Lotus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced that the party will contest on the Lotus.

Speculation has been rife in political circles about differences between Raje and the party high command which are yet to be sorted out.

Despite her frequent visits to Delhi and a visit to the RSS office recently, things do not seem to be working out in her favour.

In fact, in her last few gatherings, she has been mentioning factors like struggle, God, and so on.

At a function in Alwar recently, she said, “in times of crisis, God helps the devotees at every level. It may be late but it is not dark always,” she said,

At another event, she said, “Women cannot change society without a struggle. Since time immemorial, women have had to endure not only physical but also mental torture, but there is a limit to tolerance."

She said that whenever atrocities and injustice reached their peak, Matrishakti had to come forward. When the Gods were helpless, Mother Goddess herself came in the form of Mahishasurmardani and killed the demon Mahishasura. Women take the form of Chandi to protect their self-respect, she said.

Raje thanked PM Narendra Modi for bringing the Nari Vandan Bill and said, “PM Narendra Modi made this possible," adding that “our BJP government gave reservation, so today fifty percent of the district heads, heads and sarpanches in the state are women. For the first time, there were two women MLAs in the state assembly. Today there are 24. After women reservation, there will be 66. There were 22 women MPs in the first Lok Sabha. Today there are 66 which will become 181 after women's reservation," she added.

At another function, she said, “Raksha sutra of mother power will give me courage to overcome every difficulty.”

She was getting Raksha Sutra tied at her official residence by women who had come from all over the state. She said that "the Raksha Sutra is a raw thread, but it is strong and unbreakable. It is a protective shield for me. It has the power of all the women of Rajasthan which will give me the courage to overcome every difficulty. It will continue to inspire me to serve the people of the state. It is said that in the Mahabharata, when Krishna's finger was cut, Draupadi tore her saree and tied it on Krishna's finger. Krishna also protected her from the Kaurvas. I will also serve you with the inspiration of Krishna and will keep fighting for the rights of every Rajasthani.”

Meanwhile, state party leaders have been saying that she continues to be a senior party worker who holds the position of BJP national vice president .

Narayan Pancharia, election committee chief in Rajasthan, said, “Raje is our senior leader. She took our flag forward in Jharkhand recently and she has been fully contributing to the party."

Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, “I don’t think she is angry; this is part of her nature, she came to the Parivartan Yatra during the start and at its end and did not attend the yatra in between, this is her nature and there is no issue like she is annoyed with the party. Further she is also facing personal issues like her daughter in not keeping well.”

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) Keeping the future of the party in mind, the BJP is determined to form a government in Rajasthan, and given the recent debacle in Karnataka, it is not prepared to take any risk in the desert state.

This is the reason why the party is doing its best to placate former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who is miffed by the fact that her role in the forthcoming Assembly elections is yet to be defined.

Raje has made her displeasure know by being conspicuously absent from several state-level programmes and campaigns of the BJP and she has been drawing huge crowds at the events that she is holding.

So, in a bid to appease a powerful leader like her, the party gives Raje a prominent place on the dais whenever it holds meetings, rallies or public events in Delhi or Rajasthan. She even shares the stage with the top leadership of the BJP at major events.

However, the party is not prepared to give Raje any clarity on her role because the BJP wants to replicate the Madhya Pradesh model in Rajasthan by fielding Union Ministers and MPs as candidates in the Assembly elections. According to BJP sources, the party can field nearly half a dozen MPs, including Union Ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, former Union Minister and current Lok Sabha MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Diya Kumari, and Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena, in the Rajasthan Assembly elections.

So, despite continuous demands by Raje to clarify her role in Rajasthan, the party has decided to contest the elections in the state under collective leadership and with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its face.

The party seems to have its strategy firmly in place, because even before the official announcement of the dates of the Assembly elections, Modi began touring Rajasthan. He was not only wooing the people of the state but was also motivating party cadres and providing guidance to the leaders regarding party unity.

In a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee held at the BJP headquarters on October 1, Modi sought answers from the leaders there regarding the equations and the probability of victory on each seat in the state, along with the names of the candidates. In that meeting, a detailed discussion was held on the names of candidates for approximately 65 seats in Rajasthan.

Banking on the popularity of Modi and the strength of leaders who have an influence in different regions of the state, the BJP is not only focusing on its organisational capacity there but also on preparations at the booth level. In order to keep the organisational preparations for the elections in Rajasthan robust, the BJP has deployed a contingent of 44 leaders to the state from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

The list of leaders includes Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar, Himachal Pradesh's Organisational Secretary Siddharthan, Uttarakhand's General Secretary (Organisation) Ajay Kumar, Delhi General Secretary (Organisation) Pawan Rana, former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, and two former Deputy Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta, along with Punjab President Sunil Jakhar, Haryana President Om Prakash Dhankar, and MPs Jugal Kishore, Ramesh Bidhuri, Sunita Duggal, Nayab Saini, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, and Anil Jain, among others.

It now remains to be seen how the BJP’s strategy for Rajasthan pays off in the end.

Source: IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) If sources in political circles are to be believed, the BJP is contemplating fielding Union Minister and Jodhpur MP, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, from the city’s Sardarpura seat against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

This is part of the party's policy of fielding a few popular MPs in Vidhan Sabha polls who, as per the party's strategy, can emerge winners against Congress candidates. Apart from Shekhawat, there is speculation that Diya Kumari will be fielded from Rajsamand against Rajasthan Speaker CP Joshi and Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena will be fielded from Sawai Madhopur, to name a few.

The Jodhpur seat may see a clash of the Titans, said sources adding, “The BJP is seriously contemplating fielding Shekhawat who is already in a political tussle with Gehlot since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.”

In 2019 Shekhawat had defeated Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot from the Jodhpur seat. Since then, Shekhawat has been attacking the senior Gehlot saying that the Chief Minister is frustrated by the fact that his son lost to him (Shekhawat) and this is why he keeps making statements against him.

Shekhawat was made an accused in the alleged Rs 900-crore Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam in April. Shekhawat then filed a defamation suit in a Delhi court against Gehlot after the latter accused the former’s family members of being involved in the scam.

Shekhawat said neither he nor any of his family members were involved in the scam and the allegations made against him by Gehlot were baseless. “I have already said that I have committed no sin. None of my family members have direct or indirect involvement in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam," he added.

The Jal Shakti Minister has also been attacking Gehlot on issues like the paper leak case, appeasement policies and other such matters.

So, looking at this ongoing battle between the two veterans, the party is thinking of taking this fight to the hustings in Sardarpura, said sources. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Jodhpur was seen as an extension of this initiative.

Modi returned to Jodhpur after five years, at a time when the Congress was continuously creating a favourable atmosphere through the frequent visits of Ashok Gehlot. Now, the BJP seems to be coming out strong after Modi's visit, because he came at a time when the party’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’ did not create an upbeat atmosphere in the party and on the ground. Modi reached out to the entire Marwar belt through this visit and its impact will be seen on 43 seats there, as the previous election results were largely not in favour of the BJP, especially in Jodhpur and Nagaur.

As soon as he reached Jodhpur, Modi met former MLA Devi Singh Bhati, who recently turned to the BJP fold. He also paid respects to erstwhile maharaja Gaj Singh here. All this is being seen as a bid by Modi to create strong bonds with the Rajput society, which will go a long way in case Shekhawat is fielded against Gehlot.

Even in his speech, Modi tried to connect with the Rajput community by discussing Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. In a strategic manner, the Vishnoi community, which is continuously rallying against Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Jodhpur, was also addressed.

Shekhawat started by welcoming the Prime Minister to “the land of Amrita Devi.” Significantly, Amrita Devi is from the Vishnoi community, and Modi was also given the sapling of a Khejri tree to plant, as it is the favourite tree of the Vishnoi community.

Modi also reminded the people of the Jodhpur riots and the incidents of Sanchore, Sirohi and Nagaur.

By mentioning these incidents, Modi reminded the people of the state about those tense times which no one was talking about till now. Through its welfare schemes and sops the state government had made an attempt to show the people of Rajasthan its soft side, but now, with his visit, Modi has created a positive atmosphere for the BJP in Jodhpur.

Now, all are waiting to see if the speculations about a clash of the two Titans, Gehlot and Shekhawat in the elections turn out to be a reality.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) Congress mulling to replace at least 40 of the 99 legislators in the upcoming Assembly polls is giving sleepless nights to party MLAs in Rajasthan.

The party is focusing on kicking off its election campaign aggressively as the government programmes led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot too have come to a halt.

According to a party source, Gehlot government's welfare schemes have helped the Congress gain ground in the desert state beating anti-incumbency in most of the places.

Among the most popular schemes are subsidised LPG cylinders at Rs 500, and Chiranjeevi scheme which ensures free treatment upto Rs 25 lakh.

"As of now, the party is gearing up to kick off its campaign once the election dates are announced by next week," the source said.

Several programmes, including road shows, public meetings, door to door campaigns will be designed to highlight the works of the Congress government in the last five years.

"Senior leaders like party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and many others are expected to hold public rallies and interact with people across the state to take on the BJP," the source said.

Rural and tribal areas will form the focus of the party with efforts being made to aware people of the programmes and schemes of the Congress government.

To beat the anti-incumbency, the party has also decided to replace at least 40 out of 99 MLAs as mentioned in its internal survey. "The internal survey report has highlighted that at least 40 MLAs have bleak chances of beating anti-incumbency in their assembly constituencies," the source said. "Thus we have forwarded the report to the party leadership suggesting to replace the candidate in those seats," the source said.

However, a decision is awaited from the senior leadership if they wish to continue with the same MLas or field new candidates instead, he said.

He also said that there are many MLAs from the camps of Chief Minister Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot's camp.

"Both the factions want to avoid the replacement of maximum MLAs from their camps as it would hurt their image, but the leadership's decision will be final," he said.

With the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress scheduled to meet in the national capital on Saturday to decide on the candidates of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, the MLAs of the desert state will be keeping a close tab on the developments.

The source said that with Pilot finding a place in the Congress Working Committee -- party's highest decision making body, the party leadership has also given a message to the party workers that all is well within the party after the truce between the two leaders (Pilot and Gehlot).

Workers at the ground level now feel the difference in the situation, which was prevalent six months ago.

As Gehlot and Pilot are working in sync, the party leaders feel more confident of taking on the BJP in the Assembly elections in coming days.

In addition to it, factionalism playing out in the BJP is only helping the grand-old-party in the state to gain the ground.

The crucial elections for the 200-member Assembly are scheduled later this year.

The Congress has been campaigning aggressively in the state to break the tradition of alternate party government in the desert state with its pro-people schemes.

While on the other hand, the BJP is also preparing for the grand battle in the state as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda are frequently visiting the state to turn the tide in its favour.

Source: IANS

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