Disgruntled supporters of leaders who could not secure party nomination, agitated outside the Tughlak Lane residence of Rahul Gandhi.
If protests by those who have been denied the party ticket are an indication, the Congress appears to be on the road to victory in Rajasthan’s Assembly elections. During the past four years after witnessing a string of defeats in successive state elections, with the sole exception of Punjab, the Congress office on Akbar Road is suddenly observing heightened activity involving ticket aspirants and their followers.
On Saturday morning, the situation became tense when disgruntled supporters of leaders who could not secure party nomination, agitated outside the Tughlak Lane residence of Rahul Gandhi. The protestors surrounded the vehicle carrying Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Sachin Pilot, demanding a fair distribution of tickets. Pilot beat a hasty retreat, yet managed to go inside after security personnel escorted him.
The Congress president was not in the city since he was campaigning in Chhattisgarh but senior leaders including Pilot, Ashok Gehlot and Kumari Selja had gathered at his house to clear the second list for Rajasthan that goes to the polls on 7 December. The party has chosen Manvendra Singh, son of former Union Minister Jaswant Singh to take on Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje from Jhalrapatan.
Similar demonstrations had erupted on Thursday night after the Congress had declared the names of 152 candidates for the 200-member Assembly. On Saturday, another 32 names were announced. Armed guards of the Central Reserve Police Force have been deployed at Tughlak Lane to deal with any law and order situation.
The distribution of tickets for Rajasthan has not been easy and four secretaries of the party were removed last week, when they allegedly recommended a single name, instead of a panel of names in some Assembly segments to the Central Election Committee, which happens to be the ultimate authority for ticket finalisation. The Congress president divested them of their responsibilities, in the wake of reports that they had made their recommendations due to financial considerations, and asked senior leaders to examine the whole matter before giving him their account.
Sources said that many of the dissenters on Saturday had swarmed in from Tonk, from where Pilot has been fielded, and were supporters of Zakiya, the party nominee who had lost in 2013. It is after several decades that the Congress has decided to give the party nomination to a non-Muslim, since Tonk is seen as a constituency once ruled by the Nawabs and has a sizeable Muslim population—close to 50,000. Tonk also has nearly 25,000 Gurjars, the same caste as Pilot’s, as well as 10,000 Malis, the community to which Gehlot belongs. Going by the assumption that Muslims cannot vote for the BJP and thus would vote for the Congress, Pilot should not have any difficulty in comfortably sailing through.
However, the tricky dimension to the issue is that some party leaders are worried that denial of ticket to Zakiya could send a wrong signal, that the Congress too was unwilling to field Muslim nominees in its current competitive Hindutva race with the BJP. The Muslims are upset that once a non-Muslim procures the nomination, it could become a precedent for the future as well.
While several surveys have concluded that Rajasthan is the state most likely to slip out of the BJP’s hands in the current Assembly polls, the BJP is not giving up the fight. Known equally for her aggression and arrogance, Vasundhara Raje has relentlessly been campaigning and has already declared Pilot to be a “Delhi boy, and an outsider…and the partying kind”. This, despite the fact, that Pilot has represented both Dausa and Ajmer in Parliament. In 2014, he had lost from Ajmer to Sanwar Lal Jat. In retaliation, the Congress has also hit back describing Vasundhara Raje as an outsider, since she is originally from Gwalior, but the Chief Minister keeps reiterating that she is the daughter-in-law of Rajasthan. Because of obvious implications, the Congress has refused to react.
Congress veterans believe that the protests were a part of the game and that they were a normal feature in every party including the BJP. However, in the latest instance, these may have something to do with the ongoing tussle between Pilot and Gehlot, who managed to corner the maximum number of seats in the first list, and is once again viewed as the future Chief Minister of the state. Gehlot is contesting from Sardarpura in Jodhpur and the Congress high command in its efforts to ensure good results has fielded all known leaders. As an illustration, Girija Vyas is contesting from Udaipur and former Rajasthan Congress chief, C.P. Joshi, who lost by one vote in 2008, is the candidate from Nathdwara.
Unlike Madhya Pradesh, the Congress high command has ensured that the next Chief Minister of Rajasthan, in the event of the party coming to power, would be from amongst the newly elected legislators.
In Madhya Pradesh the options are open, where the party is being collectively led by Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, Ajaya Singh (son of the late Arjun Singh) and Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Sources said that Rahul Gandhi, while distributing tickets, is also monitoring the winning prospects of each candidate, besides keeping an account of those who recommended the names vouching for their winnability. It is being said that any top functionary, who is able to secure victory for the maximum number of the persons he had recommended, would be finally declared as the leader and possible Chief Ministerial candidate. The buoyant mood in the Madhya Pradesh Congress is because of the able and precise direction provided by Kamal Nath, easily the most accomplished organiser in the Congress camp; compounded by acute factionalism in the BJP ranks.
A senior Congress leader said that while factionalism and dissident activity in the Congress is reported liberally by the media, the bickering in the BJP seldom gets highlighted. The leader conceded that his party had a last mile problem, and the BJP because of RSS support, was better equipped in dealing with micro-poll management that is vital on the final day of voting.
The Assembly elections that are seen as the precursor to the 2019 Parliamentary elections would have huge political ramifications. The stakes for Rahul Gandhi are extremely high, while for Narendra Modi, any defeat in the states held by the BJP would break the winning momentum. Achche din, for whoever wins, are round the corner.