The most compelling descriptions of the electoral battles in a constituency often come from the tag lines voters use to explain the fight. These do not just give journalists their headlines but also provide an insight into what shapes politics in a particular constituency.
As Rajasthan heads into the polls, these are some of the most interesting descriptors I came across while travelling through the state. They are not necessarily “key constituencies” which often become about prominent personalities, but are electoral battles that give a sense of the contrasts that are playing out in Rajasthan – between royalty and commoner, between an IAS and IPS officer and even between the RSS and the BJP.
Behind all these contests, however, lies one common factor, the play of identity, of the candidates, and the voters.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
BJP versus RSS in Bhilwara
“Make your headline ‘BJP versus RSS’ not ‘Congress versus BJP’,” advises Arun Vaishnav, an engineering student, in the midst of a heated political discussion with his friends outside Shagun, a sweet-shop in Bhilwara city which lies in the Mewar region of the state.
For most residents of Bhilwara, this is what the electoral battle is down to in this ‘BJP garh’ or ‘fort of BJP’. Barring a Congress victory in 1998, the BJP has never lost this seat since 1980. It even extended this hold to the rest of Bhilwara district in 2018, winning 5 of the seven seats.
For the first time in a long while, the Congress feels it may have a chance, however slim, because the BJP is facing a challenge from an independent who is widely perceived to be backed by the RSS.
Bhilwara is one of Rajasthan’s most industrial towns, popularly called the “Manchester of Rajasthan”. Here the textile industry, known for both the manufacture of synthetic yarn and its processing units, is the biggest employer. This has brought a certain affluence and prominence to the merchant communities of the city like the Maheshwaris, who are numerically the second largest set of voters after the Brahmins.
The current Bhilwara MP, Subhash Baheria, is from the community, as have been 3 MLAs in the past 20 years. Other merchant community such as the Oswali Jains and Aggarwals are also largely aligned with the BJP, forming a committed urban Brahmin-Baniya base for the BJP.
This base has been built on the back of the long history of work by the RSS’ work in this region, one that long precedes Modi, and has earned Bhilwara the sobriquet “Second Nagpur”. In this setting the challenge from Ashok Kothari, a Jain, is potent. Kothari is a businessman who runs a textile company and is known for setting up gaushalas to look after abandoned and ailing cows.
In his campaign pictures, Ashok Kothari is shown sporting a tilak with a cow in the background. His slogan and campaign songs reinforce his image as a gau-sewak, with the refrain, “Ashok Kothari ko jeetao, Gau maata ko bachao (Elect Ashok Kothari, Save the Cow)’.
Deepak Agarwal, a Kothari supporter who voted for the BJP earlier, explains his switch in favour of a “selfless man”, “The BJP says it cares about cows but it is the RSS man who does real work with the gaushalas.”
Asked how he knew Kothari was from the RSS, Deepak replied, “You know, the RSS will not openly say it is their candidate, its cadres do not even declare all the work it has done for the BJP candidates but ask anyone in Bhilwara and they’ll tell you who the RSS is working for this time, their own man, Ashok Kothari.”
There is little to distinguish between the campaigns of the two men, the saffron colours and flags have confused a few like Lalita Prajapat, who sells earthen-ware. She says she votes for the BJP, because of Modi and thought Ashok Kothari was the BJP candidate, “He had done a jan sabha, in which he was wearing the BJP colours, there’s saffron everywhere, in his photos, stickers and he spoke of caring for gau-mata.”
Lalita Prajapat says she’s confused between both the saffron-wearing candidates, in a battle tag-lined ‘RSS vs BJP’ in Bhilwara constituency. Photo: Ananta Jain
Such responses are why the BJP has spent the greater part of the campaign attacking Kothari, accusing him of dividing Hindus to the advantage of the Congress candidate Om Narayniwal. But few here believe the Congress will actually win the Bhilwara seat. The BJP candidate Vithal Shankar Awasthi is the sitting MLA, having won the past three assembly elections with a huge margin. In 2018, he got 52% of the votes.
Several Brahmin organisations have already pledged their support to him while senior BJP leaders have been visiting Bhilwara in an attempt to quell talk of a BJP-RSS rift. Speaking at a press conference in Bhilwara on November 18, Arun Singh, the BJP general secretary in charge of Rajasthan, denied any such rift. The BJP has also expelled some prominent workers for working with Ashok Kothari and threatened to take strict action against the others. Om Prakash Sharma, of the Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha feels Awasthi is in a comfortable position, hard to dislodge.
In the ultimate irony, residents of Bhilwara say, it is BJP workers who are sending Whatsapp forwards and Facebook posts, taking Kothari and his supporters to task for seeking votes in the name of the cow.
‘Rana Pratap’s descendant now fights a different battle in Nathdwara’
“Rana Pratap’s descendant Vishwaraj Singhji Mewar’s battlefield is very different from the ones his ancestors fought in,” says Pritam, pleased with his warrior metaphor.
Pritam, from the Mali OBC caste, serves chai from his cart in Nathdwara, a temple town in Rajsamund district of the Mewar region, “Don’t be mistaken, this is not a simple battle between a raja and a rank. Both are rajas, one in the mahal, the other a raja of Mewar politics.”
The “palace raja” is a reference to Vishwaraj Singh Mewar who comes from the erstwhile royal family of Mewar, which ruled from Udaipur, 45 kms from Nathdwara. The title “Maharana” or “Rana” has long been used by the Mewar royal family who see themselves as custodians, ruling on behalf of the Hindu deity Eklinji, a manifestation of Siva. This history, and their descent from the legendary warrior Rana Pratap, confers immense prestige and status on the Mewar royal household.
Five-time MLA, CP Joshi, the Congress candidate, campaigns in Nathdwara. Photo: Paresh Pandya.
The current title is held by Vishwaraj’s uncle, Arvind Singh Mewar, but his father, Mahendra Singh, sees himself as the rightful heir. Mahendra Singh won the 1989 Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket from Chittorgarh but two years later lost on Congress tickets from both Chittor and Bhilwara.
His son now hopes to carry the family’s electoral mantle. His campaign chooses to invoke his royal heritage in every possible way. Chants of “Rana Pratap ki Jai” serve as a constant reminder of the much-mythicised traditions of Rajput valour and glory.
In a state where feudalism has deep roots, the BJP hopes the royal influence, and the caste equation, will work in Vishwaraj’s favour. Rajputs make up about 70,000 of the 238,000 voters in this constituency, and their vote is seen to be consolidating behind the BJP across the state.
This is no guarantee of victory. Vishwaraj is pitted against someone who is often referred to as a “Raja of Mewar politics” – Congress stalwart C.P. Joshi, a five-time MLA from Nathdwara, and a one-time MP from Bhilwara. People still recount how he lost the 2008 Assembly election, painfully, by one vote, but admire his resilience in returning to contest and win.
Joshi is going into these elections, much like his party, on the back of the work he says he have done. Even those supporting the BJP admit to the manner in which Joshi has created infrastructure in Nathdwara, pointing to the roads, and the infrastructure for schools and hospitals.
At a chaat stall, near Lalbagh Gardens, the customers said they knew who Vishwaraj was but didn’t think he would get much electoral traction, “He’s from a Raj gharana so there’s certainly a buzz and some curiosity but he comes from Udaipur, most haven’t seen him while C.P. Joshi is a local and has done work,” says Ganesh Gayri, a Gujjar.
Vishwaraj and wife Nathdwara. Photo: Paresh Pandya.
Jitender Singh, a resident of Kotharia village, pulls up on his motorbike to speak to us. Pointing to a political hoarding with the picture of Vishwaraj Singh Mewar, he says, “That’s the prince of Mewar, he’s a descendant of the great Rana Pratap but he’ll lose these elections as people don’t know him here.” He quickly clarifies, “I will vote for him, of course as” – he pauses – “I’m from the Rajput community.”
Speaking to The Wire, Joshi seemed unfazed by the competition – “There is a legacy to his [Vishwaraj Singh Mewar] family, there is no competition between my family and his family. He is from family of Maharana Pratap, we are all proud that he is from that legacy. But this election requires a person who is well exposed to electoral politics, the politics of the party and of this region so I am not sure why he opted for this. To me he seems like a gentleman.”
Near the Purohit Dairy, a Brahmin voter pitches in, “He is from a great lineage, a descendant of Maharana Rana Pratap. All of Mewar, the country bows our head to this great warrior and we respect every one of his descendants. But as a descendant of Rana Pratap, perhaps Kunwar Vishvaraj should have contested from Udaipur city, or from Chittor, or from Haldi Ghati or from Kumbalgarh, why has he come to the Brahmins for votes?”
A large section of the Brahmins voters who number 35-40,000 could consolidate behind Joshi, leaving the result in the hands of the non- upper-caste voters. It is here that the work Joshi has done that stand him in good stead. In some of the smaller villages adjacent to the town, among voters from Dalits and more marginalised OBC groups there are is clear evidence of support for Joshi.
Pramit from the Kumhar community sums up this battle – “We are excited to see Mahrana of Mewar, no one knows who will win, but I can tell you no one has done as much work for Nathdwara as CP Joshi.”
IAS vs IPS in Bassi
“We may not be a big city like Jaipur but in Bassi we are very intelligent voters that’s why both parties have given tickets to big officers,” says Ramesh Meena, whose brother Dinesh was a sarpanch.
“It’s IAS vs IPS here”, adds Ramesh.
Bassi, an assembly segment in Jaipur district, within the Dausa Lok Sabha constituency, is a reserved tribal seat, just 30 kilometres from Jaipur city. Politics here revolve mainly around Meena candidates. The candidature of two bureaucrats points to the clout that the community enjoys in the state’s administrative machinery.
Since 2008, the constituency has only elected independents. In 2018, a retired IPS officer, Laxman Meena, who took VRS in 2008, won as an independent with more than 48% of the vote share after having finished third when he contested on a Congress ticket in 2013. This time he’s fighting again on a Congress ticket against a retired IAS officer,
Chandramohan Meena, who was State Information Commissioner from 2015 to 2019.
Residents of Bassi speak of the many things the two have in common. 75-year-old, Kalyan Meena, says both the men have done Bassi proud before listing the similarities, of how both studied in the same school and college, were posted in various places in Rajasthan at the same time and know each other well.
The only thing going against the incumbent ex-IPS is his reputation for abrasiveness. A supporter offers an explanation, “Some people think Laxmanji can be rude but that only because he’s been a police officer, some of his mannerisms get mistaken for rudeness.”
The battle is further compounded by the fact that the bureaucrats are not the only Meenas in the fray. Jeetendra Meena, the former state president of the BJP’ ST Morcha, is contesting as an independent. He was expelled from the party on 14 November for filing his nomination against the party’s official candidate.
According to people here, he’s not likely to get more than 8-10, 000 votes but if the contest is close, every vote may matter. In a constituency with an estimated 2 lakh voters, the Meenas constitute about 72,000. With these votes likely to be divided once again the outcome will hinge on how the other communities stack up.
The Arora Factor in Sri Ganganagar
“In Rajasthan, you usually speak on the ‘Jat factor’ or ‘Gujjar factor’, ‘or Rajput vote’, ‘Dalit vote’ here we speak of the Arora factor,” says Kuldeep Goyal, a journalist based in Sri Ganganagar.
Rajasthan’s northern most regions, Sri Ganganagar, like other neighbouring segments of Ganganagar and Hanumangarh, borders both Pakistan and Punjab. Here poll issues and caste equations overlap with those in Punjab. Politics in this urban constituency here centres around the Aroras who are closely linked to the khatri castes of Punjab, the merchant baniya communities like the Agarwals, and the Brahmins.
The Congress has fielded Ankur Manglani from the Arora community, while the BJP’s candidate Jaideep Bihani is from the merchant community.
There are two other candidates, both Aroras, who can make a difference and challenge the main party candidates – Dr Harish Raheja, a surgeon who runs a private hospital and 55-year-old Karuna Ashok Chandak, the Nagar Parishad Sabhapati and wife of Ashok Chandak who contested and lost on a Congress ticket in 2018. Karuna Chandak is being seen as rebel candidate, likely to undermine the Congress base.
The Arora vote, estimated to be about 70-85,000 of the 2 lakh voters, is not consolidated behind one candidate. While the Congress candidate Ankur Maglani is also the head of the Arora Samaj, conflict within the Samaj has led to two Arora groups, with one going against Maglani to support the BJP. This, in the eyes of local observers, has meant that the real fight here may well be between the BJP and Karuna Ashok Chandak.
It is ironic that in the fight over the votes of the community, governance itself take a backseat even when there is no shortage of fundamental issues. People here talk of water for both drinking and irrigation and complain that Punjab does not give Rajasthan its full share of water, “Punjab has deliberately kept its irrigation channels kaccha so they say they can’t release water in its full force but if Rajasthan can make its channels pucca why can’t Punjab, it is a ruse.”
Punjab may not easily part with its water but the state’s drug problem has filtered over. Drones are now thought to be dropping drugs from across the border – mostly heroin – and addicts have moved from using opium to heroin.
Amidst these issues, there is the one constant, praise for Gehlot and the work he has done. “Government karamcharis are with Gehlot because of his pension scheme, that’s an advantage,” says a government employee who doesn’t want to be named.
The question here remains, as is the case with much of the state, is whether such work will be enough to see the Congress home.
‘Rani versus rank’ in Rajsamand
On October 23, centennial birth anniversary of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, three-time BJP chief minister of Rajasthan, the massive media gathered had their eyes and cameras trained on Diya Kumari, a member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family and an MP from Rajsamand Lok Sabha seat. The function was held at Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s memorial in Vidhyadhar Nagar, an assembly segment in Jaipur district, where the BJP’s decision to field 52-year-old Diya Kumari had created much consternation within the party.
The incumbent MLA from Vidhyadhar Nagar, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s son-in-law, Narpat Singh Rajvi, now in his early 70s, has held the seat for the BJP for 3 terms, winning with massive margins and was expecting to be fielded again.
Diya’s attendance at the memorial was seen as a bid to ensure all talk of a rift between her and the Shekhawat family is buried. Narpat Singh Rajvi now faces an immensely tough electoral battle in Chittorgarh against a very popular BJP rebel candidate and sitting MLA Chandrabhan Singh Akya.
Diya Kumari from the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur campaigns in her constituency, Vidhyadhar Nagar, Jaipur. Photo : Niharika Popli
In 2019, the party’s decision to give Diya Kumari the ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Rajsamand, when many felt it should have gone to Kiran Maheshwari, had signalled her importance. Once seen as Vasundhara Raje Scindia’s protégé, Diya Kumari joined the party in 2013 in the presence of Scindia, Rajnath Singh and then CM and then the prime-ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and contested her first elections from Sawai Madhopur that year.
Ten years later she’s seen as the BJP’s choice to off-set the popularity of Vasundhara Raje Scindia, who is also seen as “Rajasthan Royal” a common tagline for stories done on royal candidates each election. Vasundhara Raje comes from the erstwhile ruling family of Gwalior, is married into the Dholpur royal family.
The rift in the mentor-protégé relationship, over the past 10 years has been a topic of much gossip and discussion in Jaipur. It became public in 2016 when Diya Kumari and her mother lashed out at the Raje government, after the Jaipur Development Authority sealed off parts of their property during a demolition drive. Padmini Devi, Diya’s mother, even led a rally in protest, which was supported by other Rajput groups.
In her interviews Diya Kumari assiduously avoids commenting on Raje, responding with the familiar, “There is no conflict, she is my senior,” when we spoke to her during her early days of campaigning in Vidhyadhar Nagar.
“She’s a beautiful, royal woman and a good choice for Chief Minister,” said Geetanjal Charan, who came to attend one of Diya Kumari’s campaign sabhas. It was being held at the Ram temple on the premises of Suncity, a new apartment complex on Sikar Road. One resident, Suman Sharma knew Diya Kumari was a “princess” but didn’t know where she was from. Her vote, she said, would go to Modi.
Aimed at the woman voters, Diya Kumari spoke of the importance of “matrashakti,” saying it was the first time a woman had been given a ticket to contest Vidhyadhar Nagar. In this affluent, conservative, largely upper-caste residence complex, residents are mostly BJP voters, so her pitch here emphasized the need for people to come out and vote.
In the more rural parts of the constituency, like Badpipli, Diya Kumari highlights both the work that her family has done as erstwhile rulers and her own work as MP of Rajsamand. As a candidate named in the BJP’s very first list, Diya has had a long time to campaign and fob off controversies. With polling round the corner, talk of her as a possible chief ministerial candidate, an alternative to Vasundhraje has grown with headlines like “Kaun hai voh Rajkumari joh ban saktee hai Rajasthan kee Rani” (Which of the princesses will become Rajasthan’s queen)”.
“People are talking about Diya Kumari as the chief minister but we say she won’t even become an MLA,” says Gopichand Aggarwal, a shop-keeper and a supporter of Sitaram Agarwala, the Congress candidate from Vidhyadhar Nagar, “Just being from royalty doesn’t assure you of votes, India is a loktantrik country, not a kingdom.”
Sitaram Agarwal, treasurer of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee is a local businessman who lost to Narpat Singh Rajvi in 2018. In several interviews Agarwal has pointed out the contributing factor to that loss was rebel candidate, Vikram Singh Shekhawat who cut into the Congress’ base.
“Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Aa Rahey hai Sitaram”,Congress candidate Sitaram Agarwal’s campaign sticker, Vidhyadhar Nagar, Jaipur. Photo: Niharika Popli.
“Now Vikram Singh is supporting me, so that gives me an edge,” says Sitram in an interview given to a local channel.
Sitaram’s campaign plays on a “Queen and I” theme. “He is respectful to Diya Kumari, says he will bow down to her but electoral victory will be of the common man,” analyses Manish Sharma, a journalist based in Jaipur.
A popular line in some of his campaign banners and stickers play to this theme and use the line “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Aa rahein hain Sitaram.”
Whenever he is asked about Diya Kumari, his response is down pat, “Yeh ladai aam aur khas kee hai, raja aur rank kee (This is a battle between between king and servant). “
