With an eye on the upcoming Assembly election, the Congress government in Rajasthan on Friday approved a decision taken earlier for the formation of 19 new districts and three new divisions, taking the total number of districts in the country’s largest State to 50. The Revenue Department will shortly issue a notification delineating boundaries of the new districts.
The State Cabinet approved the proposal of the high-level Ram Lubhaya Committee for the creation of new districts and divisions at a meeting held here. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who had announced the decision in the State Assembly on March 17, told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that the Ministers in charge of new districts would conduct formal inauguration on August 7.
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Mr. Gehlot said the tenure of the high-level committee had been extended for a period of six months to give people time to send in suggestions. People in several parts of the State had resorted to bandhs and staged protests for several days in March this year against the inclusion of certain areas or ignoring of demands for new districts.
Most of the new districts have been created in regions where the Congress won in the 2018 Assembly election. While Sikar, the home district of Pradesh Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra, is one of the three new divisions – the two others being Banswara and Pali – only one district, Salumbar, was created in southern Rajasthan’s Mewar region, which is a stronghold of the BJP.
Mr. Gehlot said the creation of new districts, which was a step towards decentralisation of power, would improve governance and bring relief to common people, farmers, landholders and beneficiaries of the government’s schemes, who had to travel long distances to district headquarters.
“Today is a historic day for Rajasthan... We have taken a step towards fulfilling our vision to bring Rajasthan to the front row of developed States by 2030,” Mr. Gehlot, flanked by several of his Cabinet colleagues and Chief Secretary Usha Sharma, said. The decision would prove to be a milestone in strengthening good governance, he added.
On the Supreme Court’s stay on the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Gehlot said Mr. Gandhi would be the party’s prime ministerial face in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, as he was the only leader in the country who could take on PM Narendra Modi. “It is for the high command to announce his name. We will wait and see what happens in the run-up to general elections,” Mr. Gehlot said.
The Chief Minister said he had decided to stay with politics in Rajasthan and resolved to serve the State till his last breath. “There is no scope for my participation in Delhi politics as a candidate for any post,” Mr. Gehlot said, when asked about the possibility of his projection as the PM candidate if the Congress wins the Rajasthan Assembly election.
Over the last decade there has been pressure to create new districts at about 50 places across 24 existing districts. The State government appointed Officers on Special Duty (OSDs) for 15 of the new districts on May 16 to assist in the task of demarcating boundaries and inclusion of geographical areas. Another objective was to strengthen infrastructure in the new administrative units.
The new districts carved out on the basis of the committee’s recommendations are Anupgarh, Balotra, Beawar, Deeg, Didwana-Kuchaman, Dudu, Gangapur City, Jaipur, Jaipur Rural, Jodhpur, Jodhpur Rural, Kekri, Kotputli-Behror, Khairthal, Neem Ka Thana, Phalodi, Salumbar, Sanchore and Shahpura.
With the formation of new districts and divisions, the State government will face the challenge of dealing with regional identity and people’s aspirations. However, the stature of MLAs cutting across party lines has increased in the constituencies which form part of new districts.
Mr. Gehlot’s populist move has also rewarded his loyalist MLAs, whose claims for new districts were not considered seriously earlier. They included Kekri MLA Raghu Sharma, Deeg-Kumher MLA Vishvendra Singh, Dudu MLA Babulal Nagar and Gangapur City MLA Ramkesh Meena. The lone loyalist of former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot whose constituency was made a district is Neem Ka Thana MLA Suresh Modi.
