The festive season is in full swing in Rajasthan. And it is raining offers, not just from commercial establishments, but also from political parties. Unsurprisingly, the offers from the political parties in the election-bound state are more enticing. The Congress moved early with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s seven guarantees. The BJP is readying its best package and it comes with a guarantee from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. So, it is the Gehlot guarantee versus the Modi guarantee, which comes with hindutva enclosed.
Modi has already announced a big guarantee for the country—continuation of free ration for another five years. This is huge for Rajasthan, because the state is home to 4.4 crore beneficiaries of the scheme. This translates to more than 50 per cent of the state’s population. Rajasthan has 5.29 crore voters.
The collective leadership in the state has led to a pool of chief ministerial hopefuls in the BJP, including former chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Lok Sabha MP and Jaipur royal Diya Kumari and the leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore. Despite the evident attempt within the party to sideline Raje, she has shown remarkable resilience.
The BJP is bundling the assembly polls with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections so that both have better resonance among voters. “Whom do you want to see elected in 2024,” asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah as he started his Rajasthan assembly campaign.
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