Will Raje be third time lucky?
Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje loves political yatra, especially around Assembly elections. On Friday, she will once again hit the road taking her “Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra” to each of the 200 Assembly constituencies over next 40 days.
BJP president Amit Shah will flag off the yatra from Charbhuja temple, the same place from where she started “parivartan yatra” in 2003 and “Suraj Sankalp Yatra” in 2013. On both occasions, the CM reaped huge dividends. It was a historic win in 2003. The BJP got 120 seats and for the first time it formed a majority government on its own. A decade later, Modi wave propelled it to record 164 seats in the house of 200.
Thus, the temptation to begin from the same auspicious place is understandable. Will she be third time lucky?
That will become clear in the first week of December but notwithstanding the BJP’s ability to create euphoria. Time it is going to be a bumpy ride. And, it is not difficult to understand, why. On the previous two occasions, the CM was riding anti- incumbency wave against the Congress. For the first time, she is in power and, hence, on the receiving end, literally.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting in Jhunjhunu in March, she was shown black flags, constantly heckled during her speech and there were slogans like “Modi tujhse bair nahi, Vasundhara teri khair nahi” ( Modi we have nothing against you but Vasundhara will not be spared).