With assembly elections in Rajasthan just a couple of months away, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has taken a significant lead over the BJP, as well as his rivals. CM Gehlot’s adversaries, particularly, are on the back foot.
The opponent BJP has been launching its Parivartan Yatras, hoping to get a good grip in the upcoming Rajasthan elections, however, the party has not yet announced the candidate list. Meanwhile, Gehlot is assured of a repeat of the Congress government on the basis of his welfare schemes. The tough contest for tickets also suggests that Congress is in a position to break the tradition of government change in Rajasthan every five years.In the last year, Gehlot has been working on his strategy in a step-by-step manner. He has recently ramped up his outreach to common people and voters. The Bharatiya Janata Party, at the same time, is only dependent on the Delhi leadership. The BJP’s internal fight is not yet out in the open due to leadership’s strategy not to project a CM face ahead of polls. The ‘Parivartan Yatras’ taken out from four places in Rajasthan also turned out to be a damp squib, with crowds missing. On the contrary, Congress’ rallies were successful in terms of crowds. Congress former president Rahul Gandhi’s rally in a tribal pocket and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s rally in Tonk Newai drew massive crowds. During his Bhilwara rally, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was also happy with the crowd.
This time, Congress is preparing for the elections in a completely different way. Congress strategists first succeeded in uniting the party by ending the ongoing tussle in Congress. After that, Rajendra Singh Gudda, who was opposing the government, was shown the way out of the party. The action gave a strong message to the other dissenters. In other words, Chief Minister Gehlot defeated his opponents by doing his own kind of politics. With the party now a united house, Gehlot is campaigning aggressively. So far, he has been successful in taking his schemes to the people. Chief Minister Gehlot was successful in reaching out to every voter of the state, through the Mehengai Rahat camps. Although Gehlot could not tour the state for one and a half months due to injury to his legs, he continued his works and dialogues with the public from his residence. Even in villages, Indira Rasoi can play a big role in victory. In this kitchen, anyone can eat a full meal for 8 rupees. Priyanka Gandhi herself seemed quite impressed with this scheme. After this, the beautification of Kota is gradually dominating public discourse in the entire country.
CM Gehlot had said, “My job is to serve the public. I will always continue to do that whether there is an election, or not.” Sources say the party might give a chance to new faces this time. Sitting MLAs and ministers may be dropped.