Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirodi Lal Meena, who has resigned from the Rajasthan Cabinet, is at the centre of attraction at the Dausa Assembly seat going to bypoll on November 13.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirodi Lal Meena, who has resigned from the Rajasthan Cabinet, is at the centre of attraction at the Dausa Assembly seat going to bypoll on November 13, as his brother faces a tough challenge from the Opposition Congress. BJP candidate Jagmohan Meena has the onerous responsibility to save the reputation of his elder brother.
Congress leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, who has joined the election campaign, has made the fight tough for the Meena brothers by highlighting the BJP’s negative attitude towards farmers and agrarian crisis. “This byelection will fix the BJP government’s accountability and decide the direction of Rajasthan’s politics,” Mr. Pilot said at an election meeting in Kundal village earlier this week.
Dausa MP Murari Lal Meena, who resigned as an MLA after his election to Lok Sabha this year, is considered close to Mr. Pilot. With Mr. Pilot pitching in with his support, Congress candidate Deendayal Bairwa is asserting his Dalit identity with the promise to strengthen the marginalised communities and protect their interests.
Interestingly, the general category Assembly seat of Dausa is witnessing a contest this time between the candidates of rival parties belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe. Addressing a public meeting here on Friday, Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra questioned Mr. Kirori Lal’s entry into the fray for his brother despite the ruling BJP’s defeat at 11 seats in this year’s Lok Sabha election in the State.
Amid the stalemate continuing over his resignation, Mr. Kirodi Lal’s reputation seems to be at stake in Dausa. The septuagenarian tribal leader had tendered his resignation as a Minister in July this year, taking responsibility for the BJP’s defeat at four of the seven seats put under his charge. The party’s central leadership is yet to take a decision on the acceptance of his papers.
While the BJP’s decision to give ticket to Mr. Jagmohan has been perceived as a step to mollify the senior Meena leader, his supporters believe that his popularity among both Meena and Gujjar communities would ensure victory for the party. Just before the ticket distribution for the bypolls, Mr. Kirori Lal had reiterated his decision to step down from the State Cabinet.
Babu Singh Khinchi, a party worker from Hanumangarh district, told The Hindu at the BJP’s election office at Somnath Circle here that a large number of people had come from far-off place to join the bypoll campaign solely because of Mr. Kirori Lal’s track record of helping those in need. “Jagmohan Ji does not need to do anything. Kirori Baba’s image is sufficient for him,” he said.
Mr. Jagmohan, who took voluntary retirement from the State government service in 2014 and fought the Lok Sabha election as a Rashtriya Jantantrik Party candidate from Sawai Madhopur, was constantly trying to get the BJP’s ticket for different elections held since then. As he has succeeded this time, he has promised to bring irrigation waters from Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project and develop Dausa as an education hub.
In the Congress camp, senior leaders are confident about the “Dalit card” used in the candidature of Mr. Bairwa. Party in-charge in Sainthal, Ramavtar Meena, said while the Meena votes were expected to be divided equally, the support of Dalits, Muslims and Other Backward Classes would be crucial for the Congress candidate.
Published – November 09, 2024 02:42 am IST