Which way the political wind blows in majestic Ajmer remains to be seen
Ajmer: These days, political activity is on the rise in Ajmer regarding the assembly elections in Pushkar, the city of Brahma and famous for the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. The two major parties Congress and BJP have their own claims. But the biggest question is whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be able to keep its strong fort safe with the help of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and Hindutva or will the schemes of Ashok Gehlot government and ‘seven guarantees’ of Congress change the picture.
For the last two decades, public opinion in Ajmer has generally been with the BJP. Despite losing power in the state in the last assembly elections, BJP was successful in winning six out of eight seats in Ajmer district. The importance of the issue of ‘Hindutva’ among the sections traditionally considered supporters of BJP, the popularity of Prime Minister Modi and the tradition of changing the government every five years is giving considerable strength to BJP’s political ground this time too.
It is true that the presence of rebels in the election fray in Ajmer North and some other seats is a challenge for it. This time, Congress is focusing its entire campaign on Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme, Rs 500 cylinder and some other schemes and seven election guarantees. He is trying to breach this fort of BJP through them.
However, local level factionalism is a problem for him. In Ajmer, voters supporting both the major parties openly express their opinions.
Vinod Kumar Jain, a local businessman from Ajmer city, says that the voters of Ajmer, especially the urban areas, are seen supporting the BJP on a large scale this time too. He told ‘PTI-Bhasha’, “In my opinion, the result in Ajmer city this time will be the same as last time… the trend of changing the government every five years will continue.” 24-year-old Rahul Meghwal, who works as a deputy manager in a hotel in Ajmer and hails from Masuda assembly constituency, believes that BJP’s position is strong in urban areas, but Congress cannot be ruled out in rural areas and the biggest reason for this is ‘Chiranjeevi’ scheme, gas cylinder worth Rs 500 and seven ‘guarantees’ announced by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
He said, “I feel that the way Gehlot’s seven guarantees and other schemes are being widely publicized will prove to be decisive in deciding the results.” Meghwal also said, “Ajmer is one of the few places in Rajasthan where the issue of Hindutva also has an impact. No one may admit it openly, but the issue of Hindu-Muslim is also there somewhere in the urban area seats. Dominates.” Mohammad Raees, a voter of Ajmer North assembly constituency and a taxi driver by profession, claims that this time there may be a change in Ajmer. He said, “I have realized that people have benefited from the government schemes. I know many people who have benefited a lot from the health insurance scheme.
Rs 500 cylinder has brought relief to poor families. In such a situation, I feel that this time the results will be different in Ajmer. Local journalist Shaukat Ahmed said, “The biggest strength for BJP in Ajmer is the ‘Modi factor’. BJP is definitely benefiting from the popularity of the Prime Minister. Its strength increases even more with the issue of Hindutva.” He also said, “It is important from the Congress’ point of view that it focuses only on the issues of the common people. If the government’s schemes have an impact on the voters here, then the fight in Ajmer could be interesting.”
Ajmer City Congress Committee President Vijay Jain said that this time BJP will not be able to mislead people in the name of ‘Hindutva’ and people will give priority to the works of the Congress government. He told PTI, “It is true that Ajmer is a stronghold of RSS. But Congress is also established here… People have understood that BJP is a rhetorical party. People have also understood that BJP does politics only in the name of religion. Now no one is going to fall for their slogans.” On the other hand, senior BJP leader and former minister Vasudev Devnani claimed that BJP adopts Hindutva in its life, but Congress remembers Hindus only during elections.
