An incident of alleged rape of a four-year-old girl by a police sub-inspector in the Lalsot Assembly segment last week has taken a political turn in Rajasthan’s Dausa district ahead of the elections. The Opposition BJP has trained its guns on the Ashok Gehlot government over the episode.
The sub-inspector, identified as Bhupendra Singh, was posted at Rahuwas police station on election duty. The incident triggered a widespread outrage and the protesters who gathered at the police station roughed up the officer. The sub-inspector has since been arrested under the POCSO Act and dismissed from service.
After the incident came to light, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena reached the spot and staged a dharna along with his supporters. Mr. Meena, who is contesting the Assembly election from Sawai Madhopur, said the police had become dictatorial because of the Congress government’s incompetence. He announced an assistance of ₹50 lakh for the victim’s family.
The BJP has linked the incident with its allegation of increasing crimes against women in the State while affirming that the ruling Congress had given rapists a free run and even fielded candidates who promoted violence against women. The BJP also referred to a report of the National Crime Records Bureau to prove its charge of high rate of sexual violence, though the State government has sought to connect it with the compulsory registration of FIRs.
While BJP’s Dausa city unit chief Rajesh Sharma said the incident would have an impact on the voters in all the five Assembly constituencies in the district, Block Congress Committee general secretary Kailash Vijay told The Hindu that the BJP’s “internal politics” and rivalry among the party’s local leaders was responsible for the case being given a political twist.
Congress’s sure footing
The fact that all the sitting MLAs in the five seats in the district were being repeated this time was proof of their popularity as well as the success of the State government’s welfare measures, Mr Vijay said. Four of the MLAs elected in 2018 were from Congress, while independent MLA Om Prakash Hudla from Mahuwa has been given the Congress ticket.
Interestingly, three of the sitting MLAs contesting the polls again are Ministers in the Gehlot government — Medical and Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena (Lalsot), Women and Child Minister Mamta Bhupesh (Sikrai) and Minister of State for Agricultural Marketing Murari Lal Meena (Dausa). Bandikui MLA Gajraj Khatana has also been fielded again by Congress.
The voters in the region have joined the State government’s call to give the national project status to the ambitious Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP), but the farmers also emphasise the need for proper management of the existing water resources. Farmer Dana Ram of Kundal village said the farming community could not sustain rain-fed agriculture anymore and the ERCP was the only hope for them.
The ERCP envisages water supply to 13 districts, including Dausa, with the interlinking of Parvati, Kali Sindh and Chambal rivers. Following the Centre’s refusal to accord the national project status, Mr. Gehlot has launched action to implement the ₹37,200-crore project with the State government’s resources. The Congress also intends to include the subject in its election manifesto.
The BJP has fielded four of its candidates who lost in the 2018 election. BJP candidate Shankar Lal Sharma in Dausa has been trying to convince the electorate about the party’s plans to bring funds from the Centre for the region’s development. Local Congress leader Uma Shankar said a single project like Isarda dam was sufficient to disprove Mr. Sharma’s claims.
The dam, built on the Banas river in the neighbouring Sawai Madhopur district, has played an instrumental role in resolving the issue of water shortage in Dausa town. Mr. Murari Lal Meena has claimed credit for the State government’s scheme worth ₹3,651 crore for supply of drinking water from the dam to the entire district.
The Congress leaders also affirmed that caste would not be a relevant factor for the voters this time, as the rival Gujjar and Meena communities have not had any major confrontation in the past five years. At the erstwhile political turf of popular Congress leader, the late Rajesh Pilot, the ruling party expects a repeat of the 2018 election results, when it had nearly swept the district.
