The welfare game

With 'Mission 2030, Ashok Gehlot looks to retain power and extend his hold on the party

- SONI MISHRA

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot climbed the few steps leading to the dais at the Birla Auditorium in Jaipur slowly and carefully. He was now off the wheelchair, almost two months since he fractured both his toes after a fall at his official residence in Jaipur. Gehlot was gradually resuming his public outreach activities.

The auditorium was awash with pink banners proclaiming Gehlot's latest in a flurry of announcements he has made in the run-up to the year-end assembly elections. His ambitious 'Mission 2030' aims at transforming Rajasthan into the most developed state in the country by 2030.

For the past several months, Gehlot has made a concerted effort to come across as a leader whose primary concern is the welfare of the people. Pink banners and posters, featuring a smiling Gehlot and a slogan related to one of the numerous welfare schemes he has launched, have flooded the Rajasthan landscape ahead of the polls. He wants to be seen as a leader who has a vision for the state and is well equipped in terms of intent and planning to push it ahead on the road to development.

In Gehlot's own words, Mission 2030 is an affirmation of his commitment to providing people with social security. He is also quick to draw a comparison of his initiatives with the Narendra Modi government, saying that he has urged the prime minister to bring in a Right to Social Security. "Providing social security to the people is a duty of the government. Welfare and development are interlinked. Mission 2030 is about ensuring the development of the state, keeping the wellbeing of the people at the heart of the exercise," said Gehlot.