Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a goal of 400-mark for the BJP and its allies to cross in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and feverishly campaigns for attaining the same, voters in Shekhawati — the semi-arid belt in north Rajasthan — are pinning for an Opposition which, they feel, has diminished into irrelevance in the last 10 years.
Indifference of the local MP has been felt more acutely. Hari Prasad Sharma, 59, runs a grocery shop at the Chala bus stand in Sikar. Arrival and departure of the buses are marked by the continuous blaring sound of the horn. Amid this noise and bustle, Mr. Sharma settles down for a sugary cup of tea. Rajasthan’s famous onion Kachori is gently bubbling away in a large wok of hot oil on a stove nearby. By his own admission he is not a fan of the Congress or its former president Rahul Gandhi, whom he considers “anti-Hindu”. He is upfront about his 2019 vote. “I voted for BJP and Baba ji,” he said. By “Baba ji” he means the Sikar MP, the saffron clad seer, Sumedhanand Saraswati, who has won the seat twice in a row. Mr. Saraswati has been fielded again by the BJP here. He is facing the CPI(M)’s Amra Ram, who has unsuccessfully contested the seat four times since 2004.
Mr. Sharma is clear that while he continues to admire Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he needs a voice for Sikar. “We need at least one among the 543 to speak for us,” he proclaims. His remarks are appreciated all around. Mahavir Chaudhary, a jeep driver, who is taking a break between his rides from village to town, chips in. “They [BJP] have governments everywhere, that is why they are not interested in doing any work,” he said.
With CPI(M) leader Mr. Ram’s candidature, many feel that possibility of the Congress’s factional fight is minimised. The two —the Congress and the CPI(M) — have been working well together, with top Congress leaders such as Sachin Pilot campaigning for Mr. Ram.
‘Autocratic government’
The fear of an “ek tarfa” or one-sided government pervades in the three Lok Sabha seats of Shekhawati — Churu, Sikar and Jhunjhunu. A recurrent phrase used by many voters is that India would turn into a monarchy like “Saudi Arabia”. The huge influx of the alleged “tainted” opposition leaders into the BJP ranks and the extensive headlines on Enforcement Directorate raids against the opposition leaders is also cited by voters as a symptom of “autocratic government.” Rewant Ram Meghwal at Ramasra village in Churu unhesitatingly delivers his verdict. “It is my way or the highway for this government. For every detractor they have ED. They will turn our country into Saudi Arabia, where we will have no portal to complaint or protest,” Mr. Meghwal said. Those around him nod along.
The construction of Ram Temple is not being seen as a game changer by the voters here, who feel that everyone contributed towards it. The development, many claimed, was only skin-deep. “In the last two elections I have voted for the BJP in the name of Hindutva, but the area MP has not laid even a brick in our village in the last 10 years,” says a government servant from Sadeensar in Jhunjhunu constituency. Mr. Modi, he says, will win anyway, but for Jhunjhunu he needs an opposition MP.
The electorate is seething with anger over unemployment and see the Agniveer scheme — the short-term employment programme with the armed forces — as an insult to injury. Subash Daka, a Jat farmer, whose elder son is in the Army, is enraged. He speaks in half sentences. He asks, “Mr. Modi will be the first Prime Minister to sell the Army. How can Article 370 be the only issue? What about the fact that an entire generation of young men have been rendered unemployed? If they go for Agniveer they will retire in four years… who will marry them?” His agitation stems from the fact that the government cancelled the recruitment process held ahead of the COVID pandemic, even though his son had cleared the medical examination.
Heated debate
The much-touted constituency of “labarthis” that the BJP has cultivated over the years, also seem to be fraying at the edges. At Mandawra village, that falls in Jhunjhunu seat, the topic of Lok Sabha polls stirs up a heated debate, with each person presenting his own litany of woes. The village sarpanch Gyarsilal Gujjar, like an able television anchor, sums up the debate. “The MGNREGA wages are delayed by four months, the development funds for the village haven’t come in over six months. Prime Minister says he is giving free ration to 80 crore persons. The truth is while names in the ration card are deleted with every death, no additions have been made to include the births and the expanded families. Households are getting the same amount of ration that they used to get 10 years ago, even though the number of mouths to be fed may have gone up,” Mr. Gujjar breathlessly races through the complaints.
This anger is not new. Building on it the Congress won six of the eight Assembly constituencies under the Jhunjhunu Lok Sabha seat in the recent Assembly elections. In the fray this time is Jhunjhunu MLA Brijender Ola, son of former Union Minister Sis Ram Ola, who has won this seat six times in a row between 1996 and 2009. The Congress also has a strong organisation here, having won the seat 10 out of the 17 times in the past general elections.
