War Of Words: In the campaign trail, the leaders attacked each other and raised several issues
The dust has settled on the long drawn out election campaign and polling is over in Rajasthan. The state was witness to a roller coaster election campaign that had Congress ready to claim natural succession to power on basis of political history. While BJP claimed that it would rewrite history and come back to power. But in the process of achieving these ends, they went through a campaign that was a frenzy of issues and claims that moved from one to another that were at times even opposed.
A campaign that started with ticket distribution based on caste, went on to parties professing to take all castes along for holistic development of a society that rises above caste. Between them, both parties changed the issues with alarming alacrity. They started the campaign with development vs non- development plank derailed along the way and travelled paths of Ram temple, polarization, Rafale and other national issues. In Rajasthan, while BJP staked natural claim to the Ram Temple, Congress leader CP Joshi made a declaration that the honours would be done by none other than Congress.
There was a debate on the caste of Lord Hanuman and the grand discovery of Rahul Gandhi’s Gotra was also made during the Rajasthan poll campaign. At the same time, the caste of Narendra Modi, Sadhvi Ritambhara and Uma Bharti et al were also topic of consideration.
The roller coaster campaign ride had rebels and protests and the massive aligning of a Third Front - that had both parties worried. Players like Hanuman Beniwal and Ghanshyam Tiwari are yet to prove their electoral success, but they have given ample heartburn to both parties. They postured and served to create a situation that added more twists and turns to the game.
Leaving bad taste in the mouth were gender derogatory and body shaming comments spoken during the campaign. Shoot from the mouth adventures of CP Joshi, Amit Shah and Sharad Yadav saw complaints filed against them with the Election Commission. Netas promised the moon and back - regressing as far as promising safety against arrest if they indulged in child marriage.
The only heartening feature was that the main players in the state; namely - Vasundhara Raje, Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot maintained requisite dignity of speech. At the same time, the campaign that started with a strong Congress trend ended with BJP reaching fighting position. The result of this frenzy is now locked in the EVMs. The result will be out on the December 11. The only thing voters can hope for is a government that rises above frivolous campaign issues and is committed to issues that can better the life of common man.
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