For the last three decades, Rajasthan politics has followed a template in which the incumbent gets voted out in every Assembly election. But this time is going to be different, Congress Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot – who has himself been voted out twice – says.
“We are winning another term. People have figured it out, and governments that listen to them, provide them relief, succour and support, get re-elected. We have done that in the last five years, and the voters recognise that,” Mr. Gehlot says, settling in for an exclusive interview well past midnight, but by no means his last engagement of Sunday. There are people waiting, advisers mill around to plan the next day, and there were phone calls to be returned. “It will be 2 a.m. before he could sleep,” says an aide. And the next day begins by 7 a.m.
At 72, Mr. Gehlot is making the boldest bid of his career, to redraw the deeply etched pattern of politics in Rajasthan where two national parties have alternated in power every five years. Addressing four or five rallies a day, covering up to 800 km some days, he is trying to reach as far and wide as possible as campaigning peaks ahead of polling scheduled for November 25.
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A cut above the rest
All surveys, and voices in the street, vouch for his popularity that is above the rest in the State. Party candidates want to ride Mr. Gehlot’s popularity, and several of them are trying to get him to their constituencies in the last days of campaigning. “I am overwhelmed,” Mr. Gehlot says, about the crowds that throng his routes.
“We have built a unique and new architecture of welfare and social security. Nobody needs to worry about healthcare… For the first time in the country, and in an example the world is taking note of, we have legislated a security net for gig workers in the State. We are ensuring that farmers are not dispossessed of their land due to debt, we are bringing the old pension scheme back,” he says, helping himself to a small fruit platter. A vegetarian, he shares whatever people offer him along the way every day.
His day begins with meeting people who have arrived at his residence by 9 a.m. By then he would have scanned numerous newspapers and news channels. He is attentive to the brewing public opinion when he is not shaping it himself. “He has set the agenda this time, and the BJP is reacting to him,” a political strategist who works with Mr. Gehlot says.
The Congress campaign is built around seven guarantees. “We will give an annual honorarium of ₹10,000 to women heads of the family, the government will purchase animal dung at ₹2 per kg to help farmers, every student joining a government college will get a laptop or a tablet, the Chiranjeevi health insurance that covers up to ₹25 lakh in medical expenses will expand to include accident insurance of ₹15 lakh, English-medium schooling will be free for all, one crore families will get cooking gas at ₹500 per cylinder – 76 lakh families already get it – and the restoration of the old pension scheme will be legislated,” Mr. Gehlot lists the seven guarantees that form the core of the Congress campaign.
Mr. Gehlot traverses this dung-to-laptop spectrum with an ease that few politicians can match. He plays on his reputation as a magician and his Mali – the OBC gardener caste – origins. He stands out with his mastery in juggling ideas, interests and people around him. An unfailing loyalist of the Gandhi family who deftly asserts his ambitions; a demanding taskmaster but also an affable elder brother for Congress leaders and workers; obstinately protective of his loyalists and but also an unforgiving slayer of challengers – Mr. Gehlot can switch from one to the other. He moves from messaging on cow protection to English-medium schools; can subtly foreground his OBC badge without remotely offending other caste groups. He wears his Hindu identity lightly and visibly; but Muslims and tribal communities swear by him.
Firm as his grip over the State is, Mr. Gehlot is forever underplaying his own role. He sidesteps a question on his popularity. “It is a massive teamwork. We have Rahulji, Khargeji, Priyankaji all campaigning for the party. The Congress high command is leading the charge. K.C. Venugopalji also happens to be a member of Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.”
Setting the agenda
The centrality of Mr. Gehlot in Rajasthan is more notable in the BJP campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is helming the BJP campaign in the State, warns people of the “magician”. To counter Mr. Gehlot’s 7 guarantees, the BJP has unveiled ‘Modi’s guarantees’, broadly on the same lines. The Prime Minister has also publicly pledged that all the ongoing welfare schemes – from free electricity to food distribution, and pensions for the vulnerable – will continue under a future BJP government.
They needn’t bother, Mr. Gehlot says. “We will be doing it. If Modiji wanted to do any of these things, he could have done it all over the country without waiting for us to start.” The BJP wants to project it as a ‘Modi versus Gehlot’ campaign, but the Congress ignores that framing. Mr. Gehlot has challenged his predecessor Vasundhara Raje for a debate on the guarantees. The BJP is not projecting her as the CM candidate. Asked for comment on that, Mr. Gehlot says: “That is an internal affair of the BJP. The BJP may have many aspirants, but whether they like it or not, Vasundharaji is the face of the party in Rajasthan.”
The BJP campaign is laced with calls of Hindu hurt and the alleged Muslim threat. Mr. Modi said the Congress government was of “terrorist sympathisers.” “Modiji has used inappropriate language. Our contest is only ideological, and we should not do anything that damages harmony,” Mr. Gehlot said in response, characteristically measured.
In a video message – Mr. Gehlot’s tool of mass outreach that reaches lakhs of people every day – he urged the voters to guard against sentimental reactions. “Your vote will decide what you get. If your voting is determined by emotive considerations, you might end up with a government that works only for the rich,” he said, without naming the BJP. The Gehlot government has distributed more than 40 lakh smartphones free to women in the last one year.
Will he be CM in the event of a Congress victory? “That is for the party high command to decide, in consultation with MLAs,” he says. That is after December 3, when the votes are counted. That such a question can be asked about an incumbent CM is new in Rajasthan.
