Non-resident Rajasthanis are reaching out to voters on behalf of BJP. There is a dearth of dedicated workers in Congress.
JAIPUR
Sparing no effort to win Rajasthan, BJP has spread teams of “non-resident Rajasthanis” across the state to create an atmosphere in favour of the saffron party in the Assembly elections. These Rajasthanis who work in other states are trying to impress upon voters across the state that the BJP is winning and Congress is losing the polls. These “non-resident Rajasthanis” are not members of BJP, but they are known to have extra-ordinary convincing power.
Earlier, Sangh’s committed cadres used to perform this task. They used to visit every single village explaining to people about the programmes of the BJP. There is no other party except BJP in the country which has such dedicated workers associated with it. This time round, the BJP in a new experiment is sending employees who are in private jobs in other states to every nook and corner of Rajasthan for campaigning. These people are impressed with the BJP’s ideology. The BJP is bearing the expenses incurred the whole exercise.
The Rajasthanis who are employed in private firms in Gujarat or doing their own business there or in other states have been sent to their native and adjoining villages. The company owners where they are employed have given them the leave and other special benefits. They reach out to voters in every village at tea shops or other spots to explain to them the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. They highlight alleged failures of the Gehlot government in Rajasthan. Congress might face troubles if BJP’s experiment succeeds. On the contrary, there is a dearth of committed and dedicated workers in Congress. The BJP is trying to capitalise on this weakness of the Congress.
The BJP’s strategy has been quite effective. The saffron party brought up the Kanhaiya Lal murder to polarise the campaign. The BJP’s idea was to shift public attention from Gehlot’s schemes to the law and order issue in the background of the Kanhaiya Lal murder incident. After this, the BJP also raised the Ram Mandir. The party also raised the Red Diary issue to corner the Congress government over the corruption issue.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi’s caste census issue also suits the BJP’s campaign as the upper caste is dominant in Rajasthan. With the caste issue dominating the public discourse, the Congress is finding it tough to keep the voters’ focus on the schemes such as Old Pension Scheme, Chiranjeevi Yojana of Rs 25 lakh treatment cover, Right to Health, free power up to 2000 units to farmers, etc. BJP was very well aware that it cannot counter Gehlot’s schemes, so it started exploring the other weak points to target Congress.
On the contrary, the Congress is facing the problem resulting from lack of coordination among leaders. Moreover, resentment among the rank and file is still there. A private firm was given responsibility to handle electoral matters which angered workers and leaders of the Congress party. The situation came to such a pass that this private company started dictating party spokespersons about what they have to speak. In fact, the committed party workers play a key role in ensuring that voters reach polling booths in large numbers. Congress workers’ anger will spoil the campaign as well as voting percentage.
On the other side, BJP has a large number of committed cadres with it who motivate people to cast their votes. Despite the popularity of Gehlot’s welfare schemes, the public is talking in favour of BJP more than the possibility of Congress’ return to power. Congress needs to depend more on its workers than the private company as the campaigning enters the final phase.