‘CM Raje’s Gaurav Yatra failed to change the antigovt mood’
OVERVIEW Political analysts say yatra was BJP’s compulsion as the CM has remained ‘inaccessible’ JAIPUR:
Chief minister Vasundhara Raje was hoping to be third time lucky when she launched her Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra. While analysts see it as a sound move politically to ward off antiincumbency among people and anger among party workers, its impact on changing the anti-government mood could be limited.
The yatra was launched with fanfare by party president Amit Shah from Charbhuja temple in Rajsamand district on August 4. The yatra was to cover 165 of the 200 assembly constituencies with 98 public meetings over 40 days. It eventually lasted for 35 days, covering 138 constituencies and 98 public meetings.
Raje’s Parivartan Yatra in 2003 and Suraj Sankalp Yatra in 2013 paid rich dividends with the party notching up handsome victories in both assembly polls.
But both times she was in the Opposition. This time around, she is heading the BJP government in the state and it remains to be seen whether the yatra will help her return to power.
Political analyst Narayan Bareth said the yatra was the BJP’s compulsion as the chief minister had been inaccessible for fourand-a-half years and had angered all sections of society. “The yatra was aimed at minimising anti-incumbency but it has not helped much. It did not change the antigovernment mood.”
Bareth, however, said it was a good move politically. “It has helped mitigate some anger among party workers who had been ignored so long.”
This time around the yatra was derailed by legal tangles, protests and inner-party strife. It was to begin from April but was put off due to the appointment of a new state party president after the loss in three bypolls.
The Congress questioned the use of government machinery for the yatra, calling it a party programme. It filed a PIL in the high court, which ruled no government programmes could be organised along the yatra route.
Protests at several places too marred the tour. The Bharatpur leg of the yatra was put off after Gujjars threatened protests, though the party said it was cancelled after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s death.
The Jodhpur leg of the yatra too saw protests, stone-pelting and anti-Raje slogans during public meetings. Black flags were shown at some meetings and stones were pelted at a couple of places, for which Raje accused Gehlot’s supporters and said she would not be scared off. Black flags were shown in Sriganganagar and Jhunjhunu too.
After the protests, the programmes for Nagaur, Sikar, Bikaner, Hanumangarh, Sriganganagar, Barmer, Kota and Jaipur were shortened with only three rallies and the CM travelling more by air than in her rath.
Vijay Sharma, an analyst in Barmer, said there was no positive impact of the yatra. The divide between former BJP MLA Manvendra Singh and the CM was on display as she skipped his constituency, Sheo, while covering all others in Barmer.
In places where the BJP feared protests, leaders were sent ahead to manage them, he said. For example ahead of the tour in Barmer, minister Rajendra Rathore, a Rajput, was sent to pacify the angry community.
Inner-party dissent came to the fore in Kota, a BJP bastion. A public meeting organised by MLA Prahlad Gunjal was boycotted by his opponents who are seen as close to MP Om Birla, said Madan Madir, an analyst in Kota.
He said, “The yatra did not lead to a buoyant mood among workers who feel the party is on the verge of defeat in the polls.”
In Alwar too, there was a spat between UIT chairman Devi Singh Shekhawat and former minister Rohitashv Sharma during the CM’s public meeting.
BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek denied dissension and rejected the contention that the yatra had failed to enthuse the public and workers. “We got good response throughout. This is the first time a chief minister has gone among the people to give an account of the work done by the government. The protests were motivated by the opposition and not by the public.”