New Delhi: Eyeing a victory in several key Lok Sabha constituencies of Rajasthan, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma has made a bid to curb dissent by appointing seven BJP leaders — believed to be upset with the party — as chairmen of various state government organisations.
The move came early Saturday, hours before the Election Commission (EC) held a press conference notifying the dates of the Lok Sabha elections and putting in force the model code of conduct.
The seven seats where the CM is working out the caste and electoral math are Nagaur, Jodhpur, Sikar, Ajmer, Bikaner, Churu and Ganganagar. These are also the seats where reports of resentment among BJP leaders and workers have surfaced.
C.R. Chaudhary, the former Nagaur MP, has been appointed as the chairman of the Rajasthan Farmers’ Commission. Meanwhile, Jaswant Singh Bishnoi, the former Jodhpur MP, known for his cryptic posts on X concerning Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (who is also the BJP candidate from Jodhpur), has been named as the chairman of the animal welfare board.
Om Prakash Bhadana, who was denied a ticket for the state assembly polls, has been made chairman of Devnarayan Board, while former bureaucrat Rajendra Nayak, who contested as an Independent against the BJP candidate from Sujangarh assembly seat last year and managed to cut his votes, has been made chairman of Rajasthan Scheduled Caste Finance and Development Commission.
Prahlad Tank, who was also denied a ticket for the 2023 polls, has been made chairman of Mati Kala Board, Ramgopal Suthar has been made chairman of Vishwakarma Skill Development Board, and former MLA Prem Singh Bajor, known to be influential among the Rajput community, has been made chairman of the Department of Sainik Welfare.
Speaking to ThePrint on condition of anonymity, a senior Rajasthan BJP leader said, “These seven appointments were necessary to satisfy those leaders who are influential in these Lok Sabha seats and were annoyed due to denial of ticket or other reasons. Through these appointments, the party has sent a message to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Dalits and upper caste communities.”
“All these leaders appointed have a track record of working for their community and this will help the party in the Lok Sabha election,” he added.
CM Sharma has also made several efforts, according to BJP sources, to broker truce between warring leaders in Jodhpur and Chittorgarh constituencies, from where Shekhawat and state party president C.P. Joshi are contesting, respectively.
In Jodhpur, he has made peace between Shekhawat and Shergarh MLA Babu Singh Rathore, who had last month criticised the former. In Chittorgarh, he has managed to talk Chandrabhan Singh Aakya out of giving Joshi a fight.
Speaking to ThePrint, Aakya said, “I have decided not to fight the Lok Sabha election. My grievances have been addressed and the CM has taken initiative to address concerns.”
Aakya, who was denied an assembly poll ticket after a bitter fight with Joshi, had announced last week that he would contest the Lok Sabha poll from Chittorgarh. Aakya also said that he was taking revenge because of his animosity with Joshi since college days.
Poll tactics
Two-time former MP Jaswant Bishnoi, who got elected from Jodhpur in 1999 and 2004, had posted a series of cryptic tweets earlier this month after he found himself out of contention for the Lok Sabha election.
Bishnoi’s posts, in Hindi, expressed his apparent unhappiness in the party, stating that “nobody is listening” and “that is why we remain silent”. Another post said that “my experience says express your emotions where emotions are valued”. The posts were put up soon after the declaration on 2 March of the BJP’s first list of 15 Lok Sabha candidates from Rajasthan.
Speaking about Bishnoi’s new charge, BJP’s Jodhpur city unit chief Devendra Salecha said that “the Jodhpur seat has a significant number of Bishnoi voters and it was in the interest of the party to satisfy Bishnoi”.
During the chief-ministership of veteran BJP leader Vasundhara Raje, from 2013 to 2018, Bishnoi had served as chairman of Central Wool Development Board and, in 2018, was named chairman of the Rajasthan Khadi Gramodyog Board. He was replaced by Shekhawat as Jodhpur candidate in the 2014 general elections.
Shekhawat has been facing trouble from Babu Singh Rathore, who accused him of neglecting developmental projects in Shergarh, which falls under Jodhpur constituency. BJP sources said the CM has taken initiatives to bring the two leaders together so that the party wins Jodhpur.
Placating ‘rebels’
Chaudhary has been given chairmanship of Rajasthan Farmers’ Commission after the BJP chose Jyoti Mirdha as its Nagaur candidate.
Chaudhary had become a minister in the Modi government after winning from Nagaur in 2014 by defeating Mirdha, then in the Congress. But he did not get a ticket for the 2019 general elections. His supporters had then demanded a ticket for him for the Rajasthan assembly polls last year, but the BJP inducted Mirdha and gave her the ticket from Nagaur assembly seat. While she lost the poll, she has now been fielded from the Nagaur Lok Sabha seat.
Since the candidates were announced, Chaudhary has kept a distance from party programmes.
According to BJP sources, the party realised the need to mollify Chaudhary for smooth sailing of Mirdha in Nagaur and awarded him charge of Rajasthan Farmers’ Commission.
Similarly, Bhadana, a Gurjar who hails from Ajmer, was denied a ticket for the 2023 assembly elections, but is now being mollified to win Ajmer constituency’s estimated 1.5 lakh Gurjar voters.
Keeping in mind his credentials and Ajmer Lok Sabha seat arithmetic, he has been awarded chairmanship of Devnarayan Board.
Bajaur, two-time former MLA, has been known as the BJP’s Rajput face in Rajasthan and for his work among army personnel. He has reportedly installed 1,150 idols of sainiks in the state who sacrificed their lives at the border.
He had served as chairman of the Department of Sainik Welfare during Raje’s regime too and through his appointment, the BJP has tried to pacify his Rajput supporters.
Tank, who belongs to the OBC community, was denied a ticket from Ganganagar assembly seat in the 2023 state polls, and has now been made chairman of Mati Kala Board.
He had fought as a rebel in the 2018 assembly election on a BSP ticket, but returned to the party in 2019. With his appointment, the BJP is apparently trying to reach out to the OBC community.
Nayak, who joined the BJP before 2021 and was a ticket aspirant in the 2023 assembly election from Sujangarh (Churu district), rebelled and contested as an independent. He got only around 4,000 votes but BJP candidate Santosh Meghwal lost by 2,000 votes due to his rebellion.
After the election, he rejoined the BJP and has been made the chairman of Rajasthan Scheduled Caste Finance and Development Commission to win over the Dalit community in Churu district.
The BJP is already looking at a tough fight in Churu as its MP Rahul Kaswan defected to the Congress on 11 March.
Suthar’s appointment to the Vishwakarma Board has been made due to his long association with the party, his closeness to CM Sharma as well as to send a message to OBC voters, said BJP sources.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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