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Journalism of Courage
SEEKING to rally the Jats behind him ahead of next year’s Assembly elections, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is banking on the popularity of an 18th-century hero. On Sunday, the CM was in Bharatpur to pay homage to on his 259th death anniversary, following it up with laying of the foundation stone for works worth crores of rupees in Nadbai in the district.
Accompanied at the event to pay tributes to Surajmal by Jat leaders Vishvendra Singh (Rajasthan Tourism Minister) and Govind Singh Dotasra (state Congress president), Gehlot said: “Maharaja Surajmal, the founder of Bharatpur, was a great warrior, proficient in battle as well as an excellent diplomat. For this reason, the princely state of Bharatpur was always one step ahead of the Mughals and the British and the Lohagarh fort remained invincible.”
The CM also visited the Maharani Shri Jaya Mahavidyalaya ground where sand art depicting the life of Surajmal was on display.
While the Jats had been instrumental in the Congress’s sweep of all seven seats in Bharatpur in the 2018 Assembly elections (including one that was won by its ally RLD), the community is being wooed by the Hanuman Beniwal-led and Jat-centric Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP). The community is said to have an influence in over a dozen seats. While a BJP ally earlier, the RLP is now estranged from it and cost it crucial votes in the recent Sardarshahar Assembly bypoll, in turn helping the Congress win.
The Gurjars, who are also in a substantial number in the district, meanwhile, are seen as supporters of Gehlot’s bete noire and former deputy CM Sachin Pilot. They have made their displeasure at Pilot being kept out of the Congress power structure in the state evident – with few in doubt that Gehlot is single-handedly responsible for it.
Gehlot hopes to placate the Gurjars as well as retain the Jat support with his government’s initiatives in Bharatpur. Additionally, the BJP seems to be on the back foot here, thanks to an Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) to provide drinking water to 13 eastern Rajasthan districts, including Bharatpur. The Gehlot government has accused the Centre of putting hurdles in way of the project.
In 2018, no Gurjar candidate fielded by the BJP had won a seat in the Rajasthan Assembly, largely because the community stood steadfast behind Pilot.
Recently, Gurjars led by Vijay Bainsla had threatened to disrupt Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra as it passed through Rajasthan, demanding first that the demands of the community be met and later seeking that Pilot be made CM. Bainsla is expected to play a big role for the BJP ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls in attracting Gurjars.
In Nadbai, Gehlot’s foundation-laying programme featured Joginder Singh Awana, a Gurjar, the local MLA and the Chairperson of the Devnarayan Board, which was constituted post the violent 2007-08 protests by the Gurjar community for reservation benefits.
