Schemes fail to break trend as Rajasthan votes out incumbent

The Congress suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party as it won only 69 out of the 199 seats that went to the polls on November 25

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was confident that his populist welfare schemes would translate into votes for the Congress party, but the measures failed to break the tradition or “riwaz” of the desert state to vote out the incumbent government.

Police personnel stand guard outside the Congress office during the counting of votes for the Rajasthan assembly elections, in Jaipur on Sunday (ANI)

Since April, the Gehlot government has been holding Mehngai Rahat Shivir (inflation relief camps) to provide various facilities at subsidised rates – from distribution of gas cylinders at ₹500 per month,100 units of free electricity to domestic consumers and 2,000 units to agriculture consumers per month, to providing a health insurance of up to ₹25 lakh.

Taking a cue from the Karnataka model, where the Congress won the May assembly elections after mobilising support among the poor and middle class, the grand old party decided to focus on “poor-friendly” schemes and announced seven guarantees as pre-poll promises for Rajasthan – ₹10,000 annual allowance to the woman head of the family, a law for the old pension scheme, expansion of the subsidised cylinder scheme to over 10 million families, purchasing cow dung at ₹2 per kg, ₹15 lakh insurance per household for damages due to natural disaster, free laptops for the fresh college-goers, and English medium school-education for all students.

In its manifesto, the Congress promised a law guaranteeing the minimum support price (MSP) for farmers, an expansion of reservation for marginalised castes in line with the findings of a caste survey, and security guards in every village and ward to ensure women’s safety.

However, the implementation of existing measures and the announcement of a few more appeared to have little impact on voters, party leaders said.

“No government has done the kind of work, or implemented schemes and programs, that Gehlot has done in the last five years. Despite tightening laws, or introducing the Chiranjeevi health scheme or holding inflation relief camps, it seems that work or governance isn’t a factor for the voters. Rather, it’s religion or the ‘riwaz’,” a senior Congress leader said, seeking anonymity.

The Congress suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as it won only 69 out of the 199 seats that went to the polls on November 25. The BJP, on the other hand, returned to power as it secured 115 seats, according to data provided by the Election Commission at 10.41pm.

Rajasthan usually votes out the incumbent every five years and the Congress and the BJP have been alternating power in the desert state since 1993.

In November last week, Gehlot had exuded confidence that his government’s development measures would help the party return to power in the state.

“...by and large and the kind of feedback that is there, it looks like people’s mind this time is to repeat the government. The Congress contested the assembly elections on the issue of development and governance,” he told reporters in Jaipur.

A senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, alleged the Congress made tall promises but failed to deliver them.

“When you make tall promises but cannot deliver…this is what happens,” the leader said, referring to the Congress’s loss in the assembly elections.

“The people have started reading between the lines but they don’t speak because of the vindictive nature of the representatives,” the leader added.

The BJP leader also said parties must see through the promises they make and ensure people’s welfare.

Political analyst Narayan Bareth said the Congress would have a greater chance of forming the government had the party been united and had a strong organisational structure.

“This time there was no resentment or anger against Gehlot but was with the MLAs. There was infighting for the entire five years of governance, which dented the party’s image… the workers were divided. With a divided house, there are less chances of securing a win.”

When asked why Gehlot’s welfare schemes failed to translate into votes, whereas Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan managed to secure a win on similar lines, Bareth said: “Chouhan had a strong organisation which was missing in Rajasthan.”