Little big opposition

Both Jhabak and Pilot have been handpicked by their parties to upset the calculations of Gehlot and Raje. While Gehlot has brushed aside his opponent and left the job of canvassing in his constituency to his party workers, Raje has shrugged Pilot off saying that an outsider will not win in her home.

But fighting for survival, Jhabak and Pilot believe that they will do ‘‘the impossible’’.

It is 46-year-old Jhabak’s first time in the political arena. In a constituency dominated by backward classes, he is trying to woo the businessman, the Dalits and create poll history by toppling Congress star Gehlot.

Gehlot’s popularity in the area is history now, says Jhabak, brimming with confidence. According to him, when Gehlot became the Chief Minister, it was viewed as a big advantage for this area. People thought they would be fortunate to have their man in Jaipur, but at the end of five years, ‘‘they haven’t benefited in any way’’.

Jhabak began preparations for this fight over four months ago, when he resigned from the post of vice-president at ITC in New Delhi and moved to Jodhpur. ‘‘Politics was always on my mind and I have been working for this for quite sometime,’’ says Jhabak, who in Jodhpur is referred to as ‘‘the former Maharaja’s accountant’’.

Coaching Jhabak for this fight are the royals of Rajasthan. While former Jodhpur Maharaja Gaj Singh is backing his ‘‘advisor’’ to the hilt, Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and his family have hit the streets to campaign for him. ‘‘Yes I have royal patronage,’’ Jhabak says. ‘‘Jaswant Singhji’s wife is already going door-to-door campaigning for me and he himself will be here in a few days. There is no way I am going to lose.’’

Miles away, in what is often described as Rajasthan’s most backward district, Pilot is busy countering the Raje name. Not told of her destination when she boarded the train to Kota, Pilot was Congress’s big surprise for Raje on nomination filing day.

‘‘In fact I was busy in Delhi when I was told to go to Kota,’’ says Pilot. ‘‘I was trying to get some of my people tickets in Delhi and suddenly I was given one. I was told about my constituency only the next morning.’’

Like Jhabak, Pilot also says that Raje’s popularity in Jhalawar, from where she has won five times, is a myth.

‘‘Nobody knows her,’’ says Pilot. ‘‘In the 100-odd villages I have covered so far, not one person I have met has told me that he or she has met Raje in all these years. In fact, in some places, when I walked in people thought I was Vasundhara Raje.’’

Unlike Jhabak, Pilot is not new to state politics. In 1993 she fought from Bansur and lost. Then in 1998 she contested from Hindoli in Bundi district and won. After her husband Rajesh Pilot’s death, she fought the by-elections in his Dausa constituency and won the parliamentary elections. This is being described as her homecoming in state politics.

‘‘When I went to Hindoli, I took that seat from the BJP,’’ recalls Pilot. ‘‘I have never seen villages in such bad condition. No work has been done here.’’

Their objective is the same and their allegations are the same. And they are making no mistakes because both know that everyone is watching.