The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
In Shekhawati region, Congress hopes to upset BJP with Jat anger
“EACH ONE is unique” reads the title of Chapter 2 of the Class 4 English textbook of Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education. Along with a person’s story, it has his photo in action – his left amputated arm in the front and the right arm holding a javelin.
While the chapter has been part of the syllabus for a few years now, the person in this story, Padma Bhushan Devendra Jhajharia, is the BJP’S Lok Sabha candidate from his hometown Churu in Rajasthan this time.
At his Churu rally earlier this month, PM Narendra Modi said Jhajharia’s candidature symbolises that the country remembers itsplayers,andincentivizesthem. Mentioning “very close old ties” with Jhajharia, he said, “Churu mein Devendra, aur Dilli mein Narendra.” Behind Modi’s statement were political exigencies which forced the BJP to put the spotlight back on Jhajharia. The dominant Jat community here hashadplentyofreasonstobeunhappy with the BJP.
Among the reasons: denying the community the CM and deputy CM posts; non-inclusion of Jats in Central OBC list; dissatisfaction over Agnipath scheme; treatment of women wrestlers and non-action against Brij Bhushansharansingh;sidelining of “Jat ki bahu” Vasundhara Raje; and removal of Satish Poonia as BJP state president. However, the lastnailintheproverbialcoffinappeared to be denial of party ticket to sitting BJP MP Rahul Kaswan, a Jat, allegedly at the behest of BJP veteran and seven-term MLA Rajendra Rathore, a Rajput.
Kaswan wasted no time in quitting the BJP to join the Congress,whichfieldedhimfrom Churu. In his campaign, Kaswan has kept his guns trained at Rathore. Rathore has hit back, turning the Churu fight into a Jat vs Rajput contest.
Hoping to reap most from the situation, the Congress has been propagating–apartfromhavinga Jat state president – that in last year'sassemblyelectionskaswan only had a say in Sadulpur ticket while Rathore decided tickets for all other seats in Churu, and that the BJP’S Churu MLA, Harlal Saharan,ajat,lacksagencyanddirects people to Rathore, thus further diluting the Jat identity.
Following a surprise loss in December last year, Rathore had in an outburst at a rally in Churu blamed the “Jaichando, Vibhishano” — used to imply traitors, and Kaswan — for the loss. Then a purported transfer list of nearly two dozen Jat officers out of Taranagar — from where Rathore lost — and his former constituency Churu also went viral on social media along with allegations that he is being vindictive towards the Jat community. This further fanned the Jat anger.
Although there are other Lok Sabha seats such as Nagaur, Sikar and Bharatpur where the Jats wield considerable influence, Churu has become the ground zero for Jat dissatisfaction.
Although Jhajharia too is from thecommunity,congressleaders say he is not seen as a Jat leader as this is his first foray into politics, andrathore’sinvolvementhasdiluted his position as well. Congress leader Dharmendra Budania says, “There is a perceptionthatrajendrarathoregotthe ticket for Devendra Jhajharia, hencethelatterisnotexactlyseen as a Jat leader.”
Dhanay Singh Rathore, 51, an advocate,feelsthateventuallythe “Modi factor” will prevail. “Construction of Ram temple, abrogationofarticle370,india’srole in international politics and our image abroad have all improved duetomodiji,”hesays.“kaswan’s time is over, we want a new face this time. And Devendra has a clean image.”
At the Congress camp office in Churu, party’s block president Aslam Khokhar is confident the Congress will corner 70 per cent of the Jat vote. Sitting next to him, Nauratan Verma, 67, district convenor of Congress Sewa Dal, says the biggest factor behind Kaswan’s strong footing is his developmental works as an MP.
A major difference this election,khokharsays,“isthattheentire Congress is united, unlike 2019 when there was factionalism. And Mandelia and Kaswan, whocontestedagainsteachother, are together now.”
Khokhar says that the Jatdominatedchuruseat“isimpactingtheentireshekhawatiregion”.
While that may be true, Congress faces an uphill battle in next-door Sikar, home of its Jat state president Govind Singh Dotasra.unlikechuru,wherethe party is betting on sympathy for Kaswan, the Congress has fielded CPM leader Amra Ram, who had polled 20,000 votes in December.
In Churu’s adjacent seats of Jhunjhunu and Nagaur too, it’s Jat vs Jat. In Jhunjhunu, BJP’S Shubhkaran Choudhary faces Brijendra Ola of Congress, and the contest is apparently more evenly placed than in Sikar. Similarly, in Nagaur, BJP’S Jyoti Mirdha is facing INDIA bloc’s Hanuman Beniwal, a reversal of their 2019 roles when Mirdha was a Congress candidate and Beniwal contested as an NDA candidate and won.