A midnight meeting of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot with octogenarian BJP MLA Suryakanta Vyas in his hometown Jodhpur earlier this week has generated considerable interest in political circles. Ms. Vyas, 85, was dropped from her Soorsagar seat in Jodhpur in the BJP’s list of candidates announced on October 21.
Mr. Gehlot called on the six-time MLA, affectionately known as Jiji (elder sister), at her residence after wrapping up his two-day campaign trail in his constituency, Sardarpura, on the night of October 23 and enquired about her health. Ms. Vyas welcomed him with a garland.
The Chief Minister said he had gone to Ms. Vyas’s residence as a “courtesy visit”, as he wanted to pay respect to her in view of her track record of serving Jodhpur city as an elected representative with a long innings.
The Soorsagar seat has remained out of reach for Congress since 2008, when it was converted from the reserved to the general category after delimitation. Ms. Vyas has won the seat three times, while she had earlier won thrice in Jodhpur’s old city constituency.
Despite Ms. Vyas having expressed desire to contest the upcoming Assembly polls, the BJP denied her ticket apparently because of her age. However, Mr. Gehlot has said several times that Ms. Vyas did not get the ticket because of her public comments praising him, especially after the release of funds of ₹4.75 crore for the renovation of the Ushtravahini Devi’s temple in the city, revered by the Pushkarna Brahmin community to which she belongs.
The BJP has replaced Ms. Vyas with the party’s city unit president, Devendra Joshi, in Soorsagar. Ms. Vyas has extended support to Mr. Joshi and said she would join his election campaign, while the Congress is yet to announce its candidate for the constituency, where the Pushkarna Brahmin community has a significant strength.
Mr. Gehlot told presspersons in Jodhpur that Ms. Vyas was denied the ticket because she had praised him and his work. “The BJP should have exhibited some grace. Praising someone’s work is not wrong,” he said, adding that the development works would benefit everyone and there was no scope for prejudice against a person appreciating the State’s progress.
Political observers believe that Mr. Gehlot is trying to win over the Pushkar Brahmin community, which is the core voter base of the BJP in Soorsagar. Incidentally, Soorsagar is adjacent to Mr. Gehlot’s Sardarpura constituency, from where he has been elected five times since 1998.
Mr. Gehlot’s praise and respect for Ms. Vyas, calling her his elder sister, has been seen as a move in contrast to the BJP leaders, who have been referring to her advanced age and questioning her capability to serve another term. Jodhpur MP and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat recently stated that Ms. Vyas was quite old and her remarks about Mr. Gehlot should not be taken seriously.
Ms. Vyas then retorted that Mr. Shekhawat was “not even born” when she had joined politics. She said Mr. Shekhawat was like a son to her and he should have thought before saying such things about her. The BJP State unit later asked both of them to exercise caution in making the remarks.
