Natwar’s son falters before Jat `Maharaja’

While sitting MP and veteran Congressman Natwar Singh’s 30-year-old Doon and London-educated son Jagat is busy rallying on the campaign trail, with half-Jordanian wife Natasha and school friends in tow, Vishvendra has settled on door-to-door canvassing.

Neither is a newcomer. Jagat may be contesting for the first time but he has been campaigning for the senior Singh for over three years, and he’s a familiar, yet fresh face with the people. “Ihave no political baggage, and I’m contesting on a clean chit. My trump card is that I represent the youth,” says Jagat. Of course, the Natwar Singh connection helps.

Vishvendra’s family has traditionally contested for years — his wife, Divya Singh, and sister, Krishnendra (Deepa) Kaur, are former MPs from the BJP. Vishvendra, who began his political career with the Congress, was elected to Parliament in 1989 on a Janata Dal ticket but resigned on the reservation issue. He’s well-liked by the locals, who can regale you with proverbial stories of his generosity.

Vishvendra’s slogan: “Main aapka, chunao aapka” (I am yours, the election is yours). “That’s why he’s going to people’s homes. With elections happening so often, people have lost interest in rallies,” says A.K.Cheema, Vishvendra’s private secretary, who’s served the Bharatpur royals for 50 years.

Jagat’s pitch is the general “Congress-for-stability” one, with the youth factor thrown in to good advantage. He tours nearly 20 villagesa day through the heat and dust of eastern Rajasthan in his air-conditioned Pajero (which he had to trade for the sturdier Tata Sumo after it succumbed to the road’s vagaries).

Vishvendra’s image is linked to the land. He’s been the President of the All India Jat Mahasabha for five years and is generally regarded as one of the people’s `own’.

“Unka mahoul bana hua hai,” (the atmosphere is all BJP), says Gurcharan Singh Gujjar from Khoh village in Deeg constituency. Though the tide seems to be in the BJP’s favour, it’s got less to do with either of the candidates and more with Atal Behari Vajpayee’s `glorious’ reputation, post-Kargil. “Vajpayeeji ne desh ko garvit kiya, vote denge to BJP ko hi denge” (Vajpayee has done the nation proud, so we will vote only for him), says Jagguram, an egg-seller in Deeg town.

Bharatpur district, which has eight assembly constituencies, and one of the highest densities of population (326 people per km) in Rajasthan, is awash with local problems — mostof the roads are unpaved, three-fourths of the electrified villages have no electricity and water is dreadfully scarce. For example, there is no cemented road for about 25 km around Jat-dominated Khoh, which has a voting strength of about 2500. There are only one tubewell and two wells. “Jagat ya Vishvendra, koi bhi kuchh nahin karega, hum to vote Vajpayee ke liye denge. Sonia to yahan ki lagti bhi nahin hain,” (Neither Jagat or Vishvendra will do anything, we will vote for Vajpayee. Sonia doesn’t even seem to belong here), says Bhagwani Devi of the village.

This voter wisdom, obviously born of past experience, has manifested in poor turnouts at Jagat’s rallies. At Kherli Rel village in Kathumer constituency, barely 100 people, out of a voting strength of 3,200, turned up. In affected Hindi, Jagat promised that all the milked-dry issues of unemployment and progress would reach Parliament: “Only if I am successful can I serve you.” However, along came a BJP jeep with blaring speakers,distributing saffron flags and flyers announcing Vishvendra’s campaign schedule, and Jagat was left speaking to no one in particular, until his party workers herded everyone back.

“Yeh (Jagat) to acchhi Hindi bhi nahin bol sakta, angrezi bhashan se chunao nahin ladi jati,” (Jagat can’t even speak decent Hindi and an election cannot be won on English speeches), scoffs Bhagat Singh of Kherli Rel. The other factor in Vishvendra’s favour is that he’s “jatiya”, and, as Keoladeo National Park Director Shruti Sharma says, “People here vote strongly along caste lines.” Though Natwar Singh is also a Jat and hails from a village near Bharatpur town, Vishvendra’s supporters waste no time in telling you that the `Maharaja’s’ father sponsored most of the Congressman’s education.

As Bharatpur gets ready to go to polls on September 11, the busy, filthy farming district shows no outward signs of election fever. There are very few posters, the occasional flag strung across poles and a few Tata Sumos carryingloud party workers zipping about. If, however, you stop to listen to conversations, the topic is the chunao.