Rajasthan elections 2018: Cow politics rivals promises of development in eastern part

For some, the “injustice” to these youths is a political issue; for others, their vote in the December 7 elections will depend on the development work done by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and what the rival Congress promises.

Published on: Dec 1, 2018, 07:38:34 IST

Hindustan Times, Alwar/Bharatpur | By Chetan Chauhan

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As one enters Lalwandi village in eastern Rajasthan, two issues dominate voters’ minds — the arrest of three people over the death of cow trader Rakbar Khan on July 21 and the lack of development. For some, the “injustice” to these youths is a political issue; for others, their vote in the December 7 elections will depend on the development work done by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and what the rival Congress promises.

Civil rights activists holding a demonstration at Gandhi Circle in Jaipur. Image for representation. (PTI file photo)

The BJP, which won 15 of the 17 seats in Alwar and Bharatpur in the 2013 state elections, has dropped 13 legislators. The Congress has also brought in at least nine new faces. “Both parties are looking to attract the aspirational younger generation here,” said retired Alwar College principal Jug Mandir Tayal.

Lalwandi falls in the Alwar-Bharatpur belt of eastern Rajasthan, the focal point of clashes between the Meo-Muslims, engaged in cow business and the so-called cow vigilante groups. Before Rakbar Khan, two deaths were reported in 2017 – that of Umar Mohammed in November and of Pehlu Khan in April. Till August 2018, 12 cases a month on average were registered against the so-called cow smugglers in Alwar and Bharatpur districts.

“Many of these incidents are not registered with police as the issue gets settled between the vigilantes and cow traders,” said Shifat Khan, president of the Mewat Kisan Panchayat.

Read: Unemployment dole, jobs in BJP manifesto for Rajasthan

The Alwar and Bharatpur districts, bordering Haryana and Uttar Pradesh respectively, have special check posts to track “cow smugglers”. The BJP has promised to set up more. The Congress has promised cow shelters.

According to Khan, the rise of cow protectors has adversely hit the finances of the Meo-Muslims, who constitute about 4% of the population and have influence in at least five of the 17 seats.

The region has three dominant communities – Meo-Muslims, Gujjars and Meenas. The Meo-Muslims and Gujjars are in cattle business, while the Meenas (a hunting tribe) became prosperous because of bigger land holdings and jobs under the Scheduled Tribe quota .

Enter the Meo-Muslim dominated Islampur village in Dausa – it was once the Lok Sabha seat of Rajesh Pilot, father of state Congress chief Sachin Pilot – and one is greeted by cows and buffaloes. Niyat Ali, 82 , recalled the days when herding cows from his village to Nuh, in Haryana, was not a political issue. “My grandchildren tell me they cannot take the cows to Nuh anymore,” he said. “There is nobody to speak for us.”

Read: Congress manifesto focuses on agrarian crisis, job creation

However, Babulal Jangid, vice-president of Rajasthan’s Gau Raksha Dal, said, “We want all, including Meo-Muslims, to take care of cows like we Hindus do.” The real election issues, said Amit Kumar, 28, from Lalwandi, were condition of roads, lack of jobs and farm distress, not cow protection. “For me, getting a job in the government is more important,” he said. In Islampur village, Amin Ali, 24, could not agree more. “Naukri milegi to ghar chalega (If I get a job, I will be able to run my house),” he said.

“Development is an issue like elsewhere, not cow protection. The newer generation wants jobs and meeting their aspirations is the latest challenge for political parties,” said analyst Jeevan Singh. Congress leader Jubair Khan, whose wife Sophia Khan is contesting from Ramgarh said, “It (cow protection) is not working as the people will vote looking at how their incomes have dipped because of the policies of the Vasundhara government.”

Gyandev Ahuja, Ramgarh BJP legislator who was denied a ticket for backing so-called cow vigilantes, denied that a particular community was the target. “We are fighting on the development done by the Vasundhara Raje government. A lot has been done for infrastructure development and the farm sector in the region.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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