Jodhpur: The relentless tours of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to Rajasthan hint at the BJP’s precarious position in the state, said Congress leader Ashok Gehlot in an exclusive interview with ThePrint. The former Chief Minister of Rajasthan also predicted a “shocking” poll outcome in the state, which the BJP swept in the last two Lok Sabha elections.
“The Vajpayee government had to go despite ‘feel good’ and ‘India Shining’. Even Indira ji had lost elections. If the public decides something then anything can happen in this election,” Gehlot said.
In a wide-ranging conversation, the former CM spoke at length about the national prospects of the Congress, what went wrong for the party in the assembly elections last year, and why his son Vaibhav Gehlot is contesting from Jalore rather than his home-turf Jodhpur, which he lost to BJP’s Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in 2019.
He also counted out the many reasons why he thinks the BJP is on the decline in Rajasthan, where it won all 25 seats in 2014, followed by 24 in 2019, when one seat went to its alliance partner, Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP).
This time around, however, the RLP has sided with the INDIA bloc, along with the CPM and Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP)—which Gehlot said would strengthen the Congress’ position. He also pointed to the defection of two-time Churu MP Rahul Kaswan to the Congress after the BJP denied him a ticket.
“Kaswan’s entry into the Congress has made us stronger,” he said. “You will see shocking results in Rajasthan. They will be really good for the Congress. The mahaol (atmosphere) is really good. This is the reason Modi ji and Amit Shah ji are regularly touring the state. This touring in itself is an indication, otherwise why are they doing it? Because the situation is not good here,” he said.
Twelve constituencies of Rajasthan voted last Friday in the first phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, while the remaining 13 will cast their ballot on 26 April.
‘People are angry with BJP MPs’
When asked why he remains confident despite the BJP’s dominance in Rajasthan over the last two terms, Gehlot claimed that there was growing public anger over the central government’s failure to address the needs of the state’s people.
“People are angry with the local BJP MPs as they haven’t done anything and not raised any issues related to Rajasthan. They have not delivered. The Centre did not focus on Rajasthan,” he said.
Gehlot highlighted the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) as a prime example of central neglect. Slated to resolve water issues in 13 districts, the project only received approval this January after being delayed since 2017.
“The PM had given a commitment and then they didn’t deliver. We did raise the issue,” Gehlot said. “Now… they did an MoU (ahead of elections), which is nothing but a sham as no one knows anything about it,” he said. “We improved the water situation during our tenure. In fact there is no problem in water availability, but in distribution.”
While BJP leaders such as Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat have blamed the former Gehlot government for exacerbating the water crisis in places like Jodhpur, the senior Congress leader alleged it was the other way around. According to him, water problems intensified after the BJP came to power in the state last December. “There was no water crisis four months back in Rajasthan,” he said.
On the Congress losing the 2023 assembly elections in the state, Gehlot said the BJP created a narrative of lawlessness, especially leveraging the 2022 killing of a tailor in Udaipur by two men who claimed he had insulted Islam.
“They used the killing of the tailor, though we had caught the perpetrators within two hours and compensated the family and gave them jobs too. The NIA before the elections took over the case and BJP misused it for elections,” he added.
Alluding to the increasingly communal rhetoric of BJP leaders, especially in Rajasthan, Gehlot suggested that using religion to win elections was a sign of losing traction.
“Do we not believe in Ram? Of course we do. They talk about nationalism, isn’t there nationalism in us? Now the BJP is getting exposed now and the Congress graph is increasing continuously,” he said.
On the topic of his son, Vaibhav Gehlot, who shifted from Jodhpur—where incumbent MP Shekhawat is the BJP candidate—to contest in Jalore, Gehlot explained: “His name was discussed from Jalore even during the last elections in Rajasthan… (but) due to some political reasons we asked him to contest from Jodhpur”.
Gehlot also countered criticism that he is restricting his campaign to his son’s seat. “Out of the 25 seats in Rajasthan, I have already toured 20 already,” he said.
‘Worrying situation in the country’
On the national front, Gehlot came down heavily on the Modi government, describing the situation in the country as “worrying”. His criticisms spanned several issues, from the jailing of two opposition chief ministers to the freezing of Congress’s bank accounts and the controversial electoral bonds scheme.
“Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s husband himself said that the electoral bond scam is the biggest not only in the country but the world. The situation is such that… the US and Germany have criticised and commented on the issue of jailed CMs,” he said.
Gehlot added that the “entire world was witnessing” how the bank accounts of a national party had been closed. How will the party contest elections? Today we are contesting the elections with limited resources. Our cadres who are committed understand this and still are giving their best,” he said.
The Congressman also expressed alarm over the BJP’s campaign strategy, which is heavily centred around PM Modi.
“Modi posters, Modi guarantee posters are there but there is no mention of the candidate or even the photo,” he said. “It is not a good thing to concentrate all the power on one person in a parliamentary democracy. Elections are being fought in his name as if it’s the Presidential form of elections. If they get complete majority, I don’t know what all they will do, what changes in the Constitution would be done. Whether democracy will remain in India or not, I can’t say.”
Public discourse has also taken a troubling turn, according to Gehlot.
“People are discussing whether elections will happen in the future or not; this discussion itself is dangerous. The fact that this thought has entered the minds of the people is a cause of concern,” he said. “The reason such thoughts have come in the minds of the people is because Modi ji treats the Opposition as his enemy. Opposition has a role in democracy.”
‘People are not rejecting us’
Despite a decade out of power nationally and recent setbacks in state elections, Ashok Gehlot drew attention to several silver linings for the Congress.
“The people are not rejecting us,” he said. “After (the BJP) came to power (in 2014), they lost Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand. Recently they lost Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana. People are rejecting them, as despite being in power they are losing elections.”
Addressing the issue of Congress leaders defecting to the BJP, Gehlot framed it as a natural filtration process. “This is a testing time for the leaders and workers as we are not in power today. Those who believe in the ideology and are committed will remain within the party. Either those who are opportunistic will leave the party, or the ED and income tax will take them by scaring them.”
Gehlot also accused the BJP of destabilising state governments through unethical manoeuvres.
“They (have been) bringing down governments by horse trading. Whether it is Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, or Maharashtra, crores are being given to bring down a government. This is a new model Modi ji and Amit Shah have started,” he alleged. “Their method is to create division in the party and bring down the government, which they tried in Rajasthan too. But for five years we did manage to run despite the fact that they kept trying through different means.”
This was an apparent allusion to the long-time tussle between Gehlot and his former deputy CM Sachin Pilot for chief ministership.
When asked whether in hindsight he regrets not taking over the responsibility of the party president in 2022 rather than staying on as CM, Gehlot said: “A perception was created that I wanted to continue as CM and that’s why the revolt happened… which is incorrect,” he said.
On the BJP accusing the Congress of trying to create divisions in society by proposing a nationwide caste census in its manifesto, Gehlot said that the only intention was to ensure schemes could be carved out for SC, STs, and OBCs.
Dismissing criticism that the Congress is losing its steam in northern states, Gehlot indicated that the party was going strong.
“Modi ji earlier used to talk about Congress-mukt Bharat, but it’s been 10 years and even he has stopped saying that. He himself is tired and now realises that Congress se mukt nahi ho sakta Bharat. This is the reason he has stopped saying this,” Gehlot said.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)