Two-time BJP MP Om Birla is facing a tough contest in his Kota Lok Sabha seat, which votes on April 26. One reason is his “absence” from his constituency during his last term, in which he served as the Lok Sabha Speaker. The second is his challenger, the Congress’s Prahlad Gunjal, a former BJP leader and Vasundhara Raje loyalist.
“Birla was not seen in the constituency for the last five years. Now that elections are here, he is touring, taking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name,” says Mahesh Bairwa, a resident of Rangpur village.
Residents say all of Birla’s visits to Kota since 2019 have been restricted to public meetings in the city, with the MP barely touching rural areas.
Suresh Meena, a resident of Nayagaon village, who calls himself an “ardent” follower of Modi, says he will vote this time for Gunjal. “He is a powerful leader, connected to the ground, and is contesting elections on local issues.”
Gunjal is believed to have left the BJP for the Congress due to growing differences with Birla. The two leaders, who started their political journey at the same time, were caught in a tussle for dominance over the city. As Raje lost his clout in the state unit, so did Gunjal in Kota.
The Congress was happy to receive him as it did not have any suitable candidate against Birla.
A Congress leader, speaking anonymously, said: “The entry of Gunjal has energised the ranks. Kota was seen as a one-sided competition.” However, the leader said, their main challenge is the enduring appeal of Modi.
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A few BJP supporters in Barodiya village, for example, say that while they have no love lost for Birla, they will vote for him to get Modi back as PM.
Birla’s campaign too has mostly talked about the Modi government’s “achievements”, including Ram Mandir and the abrogation of Article 370.
The Congress appears to have bridged some of the gap between the BJP and it here. In 2019, Birla won by more than 2.6 lakh votes. However, in the 2023 Assembly elections, the Congress won four Assembly segments falling in the Kota Lok Sabha seat, the same as the BJP.
The Congress is hoping Gunjal will get a majority of the votes of his Gujjar community, plus the Meena tribal and Muslim votes. Along with the three, Rajputs, who have been unhappy with the BJP in the state, and Scheduled Castes are some prominent castes in the area.
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To help Birla with the Meena voters, their tallest leader in the state and minister Kirori Lal Meena toured Kota.
Gunjal told The Indian Express he was thankful to the Congress for accepting him “with open arms”. “There is no place for leadership in the BJP… There were some issues between Om Birla and me. I wanted the senior leadership to resolve them, but they did not pay heed. For my self-respect, I decided to leave the BJP,” Gunjal said, adding that people have been telling him they are “fed up” with the functioning of Birla. “They want change and I am here for that.”
However, it has not been all smooth sailing for Gunjal in the Congress, with one of those openly expressing their displeasure being the party’s sitting Kota MLA, Shanti Dhariwal, a known rival of Gunjal. The two have not been seen in public together since a spat between them on stage at a rally.
What will help Birla is the BJP’s powerful ground network, and the fact that his fate hangs on how people see Modi.
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A BJP worker in Kota said that will prove enough. “Birla will win, though the victory margin may be not more than 1 lakh votes.”
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