Hopes on Modi

Though Vasundhara Raje is becoming more visible, the BJP is unlikely to have a chief minister face for the state elections

- PRATUL SHARMA

FOR THE PAST 25 YEARS, Rajasthan has oscillated between Ashok Gehlot and Vasundhara Raje. They are the most recognisable faces of their parties in the state, and are known to guard their turf zealously, even at the cost of defying their central leaderships. And now, both have rivals—younger leaders within their parties.

As the state moves towards assembly elections later in the year, it will be a career-defining phase for the two veterans. With the incumbent government voted out in each election in the past few decades, the focus has shifted to the BJP camp.

The ongoing Rajasthan assembly session has been an eventful one. While Chief Minister Gehlot unveiled a populist budget ahead of the elections, veteran Gulab Chand Kataria, leader of the opposition in the assembly, was appointed the Assam governor. Kataria, eight-time MLA and Raje’s rival, was backed by the RSS as a contender for the chief minister’s post. As the 79-year-old enters the category of veterans who get promoted to gubernatorial posts, it opens up space for change in the BJP’s local politics. This also means that several veterans might miss out on a ticket this time.

Kataria’s “transfer” draws from the BJP’s experiments in other states to bring about a generational change in the state units. The recent example is Gujarat, where former chief minister Anandiben Patel was made governor of Madhya Pradesh, and former chief minister Vijay Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel pulled out of the 2022 state election race.