Jaipur was BJP’s crowning glory, its bastion, which could never fall. But on Tuesday, after the counting started, the party saw its most valiant of warriors and heavyweights fall like ninepins. Mukesh Sharma gives a lowdown on how BJP ended up losing 13 of the 19 constituencies in Jaipur.
The BJP failed to protect its traditional bastion, Jaipur, which the party has been winning repeatedly even when it was voted out of power. The ruling party has lost 13 out of the 19 seats in Jaipur district and managed to win only six seats. The most shocking outcome was from Jaipur rural where the BJP got only three seats out of 11. Two of BJP’s Cabinet ministers from Jaipur, deputy speaker in the Assembly and former state president were ousted from the constituencies. In Jaipur city, where there are eight constituencies, the BJP lost five.
In the previous Assembly elections, BJP had won 16 of the 19 seats, while the Congress, NPP and the Independent got one seat each. The BJP defeated rival party candidates with huge margins in the Narendra Modi wave in 2013.
However, this time around, the tables had turned on the ruling party, which had to face resentment of both the voters and party workers. BJP rebels in Phulera and Virat Nagar Assembly constituencies played a vital role in the defeat of candidates given tickets by the party.
In Adarsh Nagar, Jhotwara, Virat Nagar, Shahpura and Chaksu constituencies, the BJP had won two consecutive Assembly elections, but this time the party had to bite the dust.
According to election department records, this is the BJP’s worst ever performance in Jaipur in the last three elections. Even in 2008, when Vasundhara Raje government was ousted from power, the BJP had won 10 seats in Jaipur district. In 2018, the BJP could not even win half of these seats.
Ministers in the Raje cabinet who contested from Jaipur have also lost the polls. Industries minister Rajpal Singh Shekhawat, minister of social justice and empowerment and former state president Arun Chaturvedi, former state president Ashok Parnami and deputy speaker Rao Rajendra Singh have lost the elections this time.
Health minister Kalicharan Saraf barely scraped through the victory margin after the Congress candidate Archana Sharma gave a tough fight. The party was considering Jhotwara and Hawa Mahal and Kishanpole constituencies as its safe seats but its candidates who had won consecutive elections lost the polls.
In Jaipur, the Congress contested the elections on the issue of the temples that were demolished during the BJP regime and the flawed implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which the party president Rahul Gandhi mockingly termed as Gabbar Singh Tax as an equivalence to dacoity.
The BJP was bleeding from the very beginning with the deepening of rifts within the Jaipur City unit. Jaipur City president Sanjay Jain was seeking a ticket from Vidyadhar Nagar but was denied one. Jaipur rural unit president Deen Dayal Kumawat contested as a rebel candidate from Phulera.
At the time of elections when the BJP district president was supposed to work for the party candidates, he was busy preparing for his own elections thus weakening the organisation.
The resentment of Rajput and Brahmin communities also played the proverbial spoilsport for the BJP. Out of the 19 seats in Jaipur district, BJP gave ticket to Brahmin and Rajput candidates in three seats each. One Rajput and one Brahmin candidate won on the party ticket.
Several ancient temples were destroyed in the city of Jaipur during the tenure of the Raje government and the RSS came out against the government in the open. Sources say that an angry RSS did not help the BJP candidates this time, which added to the party’s woes. Due to the adverse impact on the economy because of demonetisation and GST, the trading community in city shied away from BJP.
Rajpal Singh Shekhawat was the man who not only managed to get a ticket when Vasundhara Raje was at her peak but also managed to pull off a surprise by winning Jhotwara seat twice. The industries minister, however, lost the polls this time.
Trouble In The Team
- Rajpal Singh Shekhawat was known for managing the elections. Fluent in both Hindi and English, he banked on his team in Jhotwara to deliver, but this time they failed him.
- As a minister he pedalled his own candidate Nirmal Nahata as mayor of Jaipur. Nahata had to be recalled for non-performance and was replaced by Ashok Lahoti.
- Sources said Rajpal did not find time to hear out the voters leaving them at the mercy of his team, which backfired on him.
Arun Chaturvedi, the RSS poster boy, contested the coveted Civil Lines seat for the second time in a row and lost. He served as the BJP state president earlier and was elevated to the post of cabinet minister in the Vasundhara Raje government.
Even RSS Couldn’t Save Him
- He was given the ticket in the last elections on the behest of RSS. He won because of the organisational effort but this time even the Sangh couldn’t save him.
- He was in the dock for the mismanagement at the shelter home for the disabled in Jaipur. There were reports of him wanting to change his seat, but it wasn’t entertained.
- His opponent is firebrand leader Pratap Singh Khachariyawas who rode on anti-incumbency wave to win Civil Lines seat.
Ashok Parnami had come to be known as the chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s most loyal ally. He served as the BJP state president and was instrumental in key decisions on ticket distribution and BJP’s rath yatra ahead of polls. He was defeated by rank newcomer.
Muslims Voted Him Out
- As BJP’s state president and Vasundhara Raje’s close ally, he had to take the flak for the party rout in the bypolls.
- Parnami faced the flak for his “high-handedness” which was not lost even on the party workers who were miffed with him and warned him of defeat in polls.
- Parnami was defeated by first-time candidate of the Congress Rafiq Khan in Adarsh Nagar seat. The BJP’s refusal to give ticket to Muslim candidate worked against him.
Rao Rajendra Singh was one of the suave politicians in Raje government who was as impressive in conducting the Assembly as he was amidst the villagers in his constituency, Shahpura, where he holds the title of royalty. He came in third in triangular contest.
Independent Ousts Royal
- Rao Rajendra Singh was nominated as the deputy speaker of the state Vidhan Sabha. But in spite of his elevation to the post he couldn’t save his seat.
- Anti-incumbency factor against the BJP government in state also worked against the blue-blooded royal.
- The independent candidate Alok Beniwal is Congress rebel and was contesting against him for two terms now. He was denied a ticket and still won the seat.
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 "Rajpal Singh Shekhawat, Arun Chaturvedi, Ashok Parnami, Ashok Parnami")
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