The feedback from the ground in Rajasthan seems to have given confidence to the Congress leadership that the party may be able to break the 25-year-old jinx in the upcoming Assembly election.
No incumbent government has been re-elected in the State for 25 years, but surveys commissioned by the party suggest that the Ashok Gehlot government has gained considerable popularity through its welfare politics, according to party strategists. “We are on a strong wicket now,” a senior functionary of the party told The Hindu.
At a closed-door meeting to review the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly election last Thursday, all the 30 or so participants agreed that schemes recently unveiled by the State government, such as subsidised LPG cylinders at ₹500 and free medical insurance up to ₹25 lakhs could well be a game-changer.
“Day before yesterday, at Bikaner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to launch Ayushman Bharat cards that provides for free treatment up to ₹ 5 lakhs. He was then told that Rajasthan already has the Chiranjeevi scheme, which guarantees free treatment up to ₹ 25 lakh in government hospitals,” tweeted Congress general secretary (communication) Jairam Ramesh on Monday.
“Hearing this, ‘headlinejeevi’ [one who lives by headlines] had to give up the idea of making an announcement at the last minute,” Mr. Ramesh added.
The popular schemes have also become a unifying factor between different factions as Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot sought to consolidate his position within the party.
Sachin Pilot’s truce
If the big takeaway from Thursday’s meeting was Sachin Pilot, the former deputy Chief Minister-turned-rebel, signalling truce, the other highlight was the party’s reliance on the Gehlot government’s welfare schemes to break Rajasthan’s voting pattern that alternates between the Congress and the BJP every five years.
“Everybody is confident that we are going to win Rajasthan,” party general secretary (organisation) K. C. Venugopal told reporters after the marathon four-hour meeting.
“There is a government, it is doing very good work and that work will give us result,” he added.
BJP’s internal fight
The public spat between Mr. Pilot and Mr. Gehlot made for bad optics for the Congress but the BJP could not capitalise much as it was dealing with its own internal fight over the State’s leadership.
While the BJP high command experimented with their choice of leaders to lead the State unit, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje made it clear that ignoring her could jeopardise the party’s electoral prospects.
Another unintended consequence of the Gehlot-Pilot rivalry is that the warring Congress factions occupied the ruling as well as the Opposition space.
Now, with Mr. Pilot, who had threatened to launch an agitation against his own government just a couple of months back, signalling truce, the Congress high command is hoping to put up a strong fight.
Mr. Venugopal, who is said to have played a key role in bringing Mr. Pilot on board, underscored the need for party discipline.
“The party decided that today onwards, everybody should follow strict discipline in the party… nobody has the freedom to speak about inner party things outside party forum,” Mr. Venugopal said after the Thursday meeting.
