Rajasthan Elections / Close ticket of Vasundhara-Gehlot, both the parties looking for new option!

Rajasthan Elections: Congress and BJP have fielded all the candidates in Rajasthan Assembly elections. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje are such powerful leaders, on whose axis the politics of Rajasthan has been running for the last two and a half decades. According to the tradition in the state, there has been a custom of changing the government every five years, but no one could become an alternative to Gehlot and Vasandhara. This time the political supremacy of both seems to be breaking, many signs of which are being seen.

BJP has fielded many leaders close to Vasundhara Raje and has ticketed many strong commanders. Similarly, the Congress leadership has also canceled the tickets of many trusted leaders of CM Gehlot. In this way, both Congress and BJP parties have given the message that the high command is supreme. In such a situation, it remains to be seen how Vasundhara Raje and Ashok Gehlot maintain their political dominance after the elections?

On the edge of Gehlot's soldiers

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot may have been successful in getting the ticket to Minister Shanti Dhariwal despite all the opposition, but he could not make strong close leaders like Mahesh Joshi and Mahendra Rathod as candidates. After canceling the ticket of Mahesh Joshi, MLA from Hawamahal seat and minister in Gehlot government, Congress has made District President RR Tiwari its candidate. Congress also did not give ticket to Mahendra Rathod, who was seeking ticket from Ajmer seat. Both these leaders had rebelled against the orders of the Congress high command to save Gehlot's chair, for which they had to suffer the consequences.

Congress has also not given ticket to CM Gehlot's special officer Lokesh Sharma. After Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria refused to contest the elections, Sachin Pilot's special Abhishek Chaudhary has been given the ticket. Apart from this, Gehlot had given the green signal to former MLA Ashok Tanwar to contest the election from Chaksu seat by calling him, but the party has again given the ticket to Vedprakash Solanki of Pilot group. Gehlot's close aide Rajeev Arora was seeking ticket from Malviya Nagar, but the party has made Archana Sharma its candidate.

Suryakanta Vyas is from BJP from Sursagar seat of Jodhpur, but the party did not give him the ticket this time. Even Gehlot was advocating Congress to make Vyas a candidate, but could not get the ticket. Not only this, former mayor Rameshwar Dadhich, another close aide of Gehlot, was seeking ticket from Sursagar seat, but the party did not make him a candidate either. Apart from this, Gehlot wanted to give tickets to independent and BSP MLAs, but the party has not made candidates for many of those leaders.

Pilot's power balance

Just as Congress has not given tickets to leaders close to Pilot, on the other hand, by giving ticket to Vedprakash Solanki, close to Pilot who made statements against the Chief Minister, it has given a message that Sachin Pilot is in the good books of the party leadership. Not only this, the way Pilot's supporters have been given political importance and because of this, leaders close to Gehlot have had to despair for the ticket, political meanings are being inferred from it. The Congress high command is not completely leaving the politics of Rajasthan to Gehlot, but has adopted the strategy of creating a power balance with Pilot by not giving tickets to his supporters.

Many people close to Vasundhara Raje were banned

BJP's politics in Rajasthan has been centered around Vasundhara Raje for the last two and a half decades, but this is the first time that BJP has declared her as the chief ministerial face and not all the leaders close to her have got tickets. Vasundhara Raje has definitely been successful in getting tickets to many MLAs close to her, but has failed to ticket a special commander. This time, BJP has not given tickets to leaders like former minister Yunus Khan, Ashok Parnami, Rajpal Singh Shekhawat and Ashok Lahoti, who are considered right hands of Vasundhara Raje.

This is being considered a big blow politically for Vasundhara Raje, because these are the leaders who have been openly advocating for her. In such a situation, by canceling his ticket, the party has given the message that the high command is supreme. However, Yunus Khan is going to contest as an independent candidate from Didwana seat, while Ashok Lahoti, by being present during the filing of nomination of BJP candidate Bhajanlal Sharma from Sanganer, has made it clear that he is now with the party. In such a situation, all eyes are on Rajpal Singh Shekhawat and Ashok Parnami.

However, it would be wrong to say that the Vasundhara Raje group has suffered a setback due to the cancellation of tickets of only these four leaders. In the BJP list, the party leadership has given importance to those supporters of Vasundhara Raje, while maintaining a balance with Vasundhara as well as the party organization. Apart from this, there is a long list of MLAs supporting Vasundhara, whom the party has made candidates for. BJP has not given tickets to those leaders who had loyalty only to Vasundhara and did not give importance to the party organization. In such a situation, the BJP high command has ticketed him, while on the other hand, the picture has not been made clear regarding the CM's face.

What new option is BJP looking for?

In the politics of Rajasthan, BJP has made Vasundhara Raje its candidate from her traditional seat while Congress has made Vasundhara Raje its candidate, but has not declared the face of the Chief Minister. Looking at the political condition of Rajasthan, the way Congress is looking at the current politics from the perspective of Gehlot, it is considering Sachin Pilot as the future leader. Similarly, BJP also does not want to move ahead by ignoring Vasundhara Raje at present, due to which it has given her a free hand to some extent. Some leaders close to Vasundhara Raje have been fielded in the election field by giving tickets to them, but an attempt has been made to give a political message by giving tickets to strong commanders. In this way, both Congress and BJP are trying to find their alternatives keeping in view the future politics?