Jodhpur will be tough journey for CM Vasundhara Raje

The next leg of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra is scheduled to tour Jodhpur Division between August 24 and September 2. This western division is being considered as a challenging part of the yatra for several reasons namely; for the party to hold on its seats, deal with ruffled feathers and to claim credit for beginning work on refinery in Barmer.

The party holds 30 out of 33 seats from the division and holding on to them in the elections slated to be held at year end is a challenge in itself. Especially as the division is home ground of former CM and maverick politician, Ashok Gehlot, who is an adversary to watch out for.  

Further, several issues have served to create a challenging situation in the area. The main being Anandpal encounter, Chatur Singh encounter and issue of Raje opposing Gajendra Singh for state BJP chief. Incidentally, all three are related to the Rajput community whose outfit Karni Sena has already announced that it would fly black balloons to oppose the yatra.  

Overwhelmed with the results, the ruling party has given adequate representation to leaders from the division. There is a battery of representatives from the division in central and state cabinet and in the organisation at national and state level. Further, three nominations to Rajya Sabha are also from Jodhpur division.

The sheer numbers is an indication about how important this region is to the ruling party. While adding to these numbers would definitely be what BJP wants, the real challenge is to hold on to its huge bounty.