In Rajasthan, water shortage is a common problem highlighted by voters in almost all constituencies. The disparity between the better-off Western districts and 13 dry districts in the east is conspicuous. Water continues to be an emotional issue in all elections in the state and is expected to be among the top issues before the electors during voting on Saturday.
While the Indira Gandhi Canal feeds the state’s Western parts, residents in the eastern parts blame successive governments of ignoring their growing water needs and delaying the execution of the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project that holds promise to mitigate the miseries of 41% of the state’s residents spread over 23.6% of the state’s area.
The desert state is the largest in the country in terms of geographical area but it has only 1.16% of the country’s surface water.
The ERCP, which proposes to bring surplus water from Chambal river basin to 13 districts in eastern Rajasthan, got the in-principle nod from the Union government during former CM Vasundhara Raje’s tenure but has failed to make any progress on the ground.
Gehlot blames the BJP-led Central government for the delay in the project. He said the Narendra Modi government did not keep its promise of declaring ERCP a national project – meaning a project which would get a larger chunk of funding from the Union government. On the other hand, Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat accused the Gehlot government of not submitting the requisite documents for completing the formality for declaring ERCP a national project.
While political frictions continue to cast a shadow over the eastern canal project, voters in the state are expected to express their anger over the issue during voting on November 25. The party they think is most likely to get them the much-needed water is going to get their support and come to power in the state next month.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Gehlot’s own constituency Sardarpura continues to enjoy VVIP status with all the amenities, including potable water. Gehlot appears to be determined to complete his second hat-trick or sixth straight win in Assembly election to be held on Saturday.
The declaration of result on December 3 is likely to once again assert that Gehlot’s Mali community calls the shots in the constituency from where he won with a margin of 45,597 votes in 2018. While the Chief Minister got 97,081 votes his BJP rival Shambhu Singh Khetasar could manage only 51,484 votes.
Other communities that have bearing on the result in the Assembly constituency include Jat, Rajput, Mahajan, OBCs and minorities.
Voters in the constituency get the utmost attention of the state administration since the area has been nurtured by Gehlot for over two decades. Since Gehlot remains in Jaipur for most of his time, his trusted party workers manage the show in his constituency. Development works are taken up on a priority in the constituency, especially road, health and education. Welfare schemes like pension, free electricity, free medicines and free smartphones are implemented with serious intent in the constituency to keep the CM’s voters happy.
The 2,48,214 voters in the constituency include 1,26, 893 men and 1,21, 821 women. Gehlot represented the seat for the first time in 1999 after winning a byelection. At that time, the seat was vacated by his Congress colleague Mansingh Devra to allow Gehlot, who had by then been sworn-in as the CM, to get elected to the Assembly.
Interestingly, Sardarpura voters have been loyal to Gehlot in Assembly elections but they always favour the BJP when it comes to Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, Gehlot’s son Vaibhav contested the Jodhpur Lok Sabha seat but in Sardarpura segment BJP polled more votes than the Congress. Jodhpur is considered important from a tourism point of view and the Sardarpura assembly seat includes parts of Mehrangarh, Umed Bhawan, Mandaur Garden and city areas.
