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Journalism of Courage
The nominations have been filed and the battlelines drawn. After the chaos of hopefuls and uncertain party lists, Rajasthan is now gearing up for manifestos, issues and some serious campaigning.
Ashok Gehlot is unmoved, though, convinced that effective management of the drought that lasted four years has consolidated his hold on power. His hesitant start as a chief minister four years ago is history now as Gehlot exudes confidence at every public meeting, telling voters he will be back as chief minister in 20-odd days.
But Gehlot stuck to his guns. He was never in favour of changing his men and he ensured that not more than 20 MLAs lost their seats.
His rival chief ministerial candidate Vasundhara Raje has not had much luck though. She continues to battle the old guard that has been hostile ever since she was appointed party president. While the chief minister has had his say in the ticket distribution, Raje has lost out to the stronger RSS influence.
The BJP8217;s campaign against Gehlot could use some steam too. While the BJP trumps up drought mismanagement and claims most of the relief came from teh Centre, villages across the state believe Gehlot streamlined the operations effectively.
It8217;s Gehlot8217;s favourite subject too. He has challenged the Opposition to come up with concrete cases of mismanagement and publicly asked them why their central leadership did not visit the homes of struggling farmers when the drought was at its worst.
The Rajasthan Chief Minister has also been pumping up the power reforms in the state. He dismisses the public resentment over power tariffs but critics say it will play a role in the elections. Similarly, while the people are happy with the way he handled striking employees at the beginning of his tenure, government employees are dead against him.
