‘ExCM Gehlot will contest from Sardarpura again’
POLL READY Ashok Gehlot will file his nomination paper on November 19 JODHPUR:
Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot will contest from the Sardarpura assembly constituency in Jodhpur district for the fifth time, said a party leader who has been given campaigning responsibility for the seat.
For the first time since 1999, the BJP has repeated its candidate who will take on Gehlot in Sardarpura, considered a Congress stronghold. In its first list, the BJP gave ticket to Shambhu Singh Khetasar who had lost the last election in Sardarpura.
“Former CM Gehlot will file nomination on November 19 for Sardarpura seat,” said former Jodhpur Development Authority (JDA) chairman Rajendra Singh Solanki who assumed the Congress campaign charge in the constituency in the last polls.
The Congress has not released its list of candidates. AICC general secretary Gehlot announced on Wednesday that he and Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot would contest the December 7 assembly elections in the state.
Of the 11 elections held in Sardarpura formed in 1967, the Congress had won seven times.
In the 1998 elections, the Congress got a majority and formed government. Gehlot was made the chief minister for the first time, but he was not an MLA at that time. He was elected to the assembly from Sardarpura for the first time in a by-election in 1999. After that Gehlot has been elected from the seat, dominated by people from Mali (gardener) caste to which the former CM belongs. Barring the first election held in 1967, a Mali candidate has been winning from the seat.
This is a major reason why Gehlot relies on this seat, political observers said. In 1999, Gehlot got a big mandate but in subsequent elections, his victory margin thinned. In the last elections, Gehlot defeated BJP candidate Khetasar by 18,478 votes.
“Gehlot contested the last election against me as a CM. The government machinery was engaged in his help. For me this constituency was also new, but now it is not like that,” Khetasar said. “This time Gehlot is contesting like a common leader. Voters have chosen him for 20 years and he was CM for 10 years Gehlot. But he could not do any work for his area which the public should remember. This time the people want change.”
Political observer Dinesh Ramawat said, “After delimitation in 2008, some wards, considered Congress’ traditional vote bank, are no longer part of this constituency. After the record victory in the 1999 election, the decline in margin is worrisome for the Congress. But it will not be wrong to say that Gehlot feels most secure in this seat.”
Congress leader and former JDA chairman Solanki said, “During Gehlot’s tenure, the entire Jodhpur city has developed. The current BJP government stopped development work in the city due to political malice. Despite being the second largest city in the state, Jodhpur was not selected for Smart City. Gehlot is not just leader of Jodhpur, he is a popular leader of the state.”