‘Congress Confident of Winning at Least 150 Seats in Rajasthan’

Congress manifesto committee member Dharmendra Rathore and former Minister and Rajasthan MLA Ramkesh Meena – in an interview with Newsclick –spoke about a range of issues with which the party is approaching people, seeking their votes and support, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

Both the leaders said that the party is united, and there is no infighting over the leadership issue. They claimed that Congress will win not less than 150 seats in the upcoming elections. Rajasthan is going to polls on December 7. The results will be announced on December 11.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

MP election 2018: In Rahul Gandhi’s temple run, no place for Digvijaya Singh

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit all major temples in Madhya Pradesh as part of his election campaign as the party believes more than half-dozen prominent temples have influence over voters in nearly half the seats in the state.

State party president Kamal Nath and the campaign committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia are accompanying Gandhi on all these temple visits. Former Congress chief minister Digvijaya Singh, now the party’s coordination committee chief, who has raised issues such as Hindu terrorism, has however been kept out of such engagements of Gandhi.

The Congress president has already been to three such temples – the Kamtanath temple in Chitrakoot last month and the Pitambara Peeth in Datia and Ankaleshwar temple in Gwalior on Monday. He also did a Narmada Aarti at Gwari Ghat in Jabalpur earlier this month. Gandhi’s next stops later this month, during his visit to the all-important Malwa region, are expected to be the two jyotirlingas in the state – the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain and Omkareshwar Peeth in the Omkareshwar district. A party functionary said a plan was also in the works for Gandhi to visit the Ram Raja Temple and Laxmi Narayan Temple in Orchha in Niwari district at a later date.

“Rahul Gandhi also went to Moti Masjid and a gurudwara in Gwalior during his present trip,” a Congress functionary said, stressing on the “secular nature” of his trips. Gandhi also put out a picture on Instagram of his recent visits to Ankaleshwar temple, Moti Masjid and a gurudwara with the message, “The idea of India begins with acceptance that India thrives on diversity. The idea of India is in all of us. The idea that we are one people and will always be.”

Gandhi shared a picture in which he is seen wearing a skull cap at the Moti Masjid. The Congress functionary also said it was part of the Gandhi family’s tradition to visit the temples in Madhya Pradesh. “Indira Gandhi had visited the Pitambara Peeth in Datia thrice in her life and Rajiv Gandhi had visited once,” the leader said.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

“Make In Dholpur”: In Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi Tweaks PM’s Initiative

Dholpur, a small town in eastern Rajasthan, hit the trending lists on social media today as Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, on election trail in Rajasthan, promised to put in on the Make in India map. Mr Gandhi is on a two-day tour of BJP-ruled Rajasthan, where assembly elections will be held in a single phase on December 7.

The Congress chief, who has repeatedly accused the Narendra Modi government of failing to create jobs through his Make in India initiative, said, “Your phones are all made in China. I want them to be made in made in Rajsthan, Dholpur… I want people to realise where Dholpur is”.

Recently, PM Modi inaugurated what is billed as the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturing facility by Samsung — but in the outskirts of national capital Delhi.

This was Rahul Gandhi’s third visit in the state, where Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is seeking a second term. In nearly three decades, Rajasthan has not allowed any party two terms in power. It gives a natural advantage to the Congress, whose state chief Sachin Pilot is leading the campaign.

Mr Gandhi’s 163-km roadshow in six constituencies of Dholpur and Bharatpur is aimed at taking on Ms Raje on her home ground. The Chief Minister is a former royal from Dholpur, but the area also happens to be one where the Congress has a toehold. In the 2013 election, when the Congress was all but wiped out in the state, winning only 21 of 200 seats, it managed to retain four seats in the Dholpur-Bharatpur belt.

COMMENT

The Congress chief – who is planning to cover six constituencies by Wednesday – said despite a four-year-rule, neither PM Modi nor Vasundhara Raje has done much for the people in Rajasthan.

“When the UPA government was in power, we gave you MNREGA, farm loan waivers to the tune of Rs. 70,000 crore, rice and food for the children… what has Narendra Modi and Vasundhara Raje done for the poor, the farmers?”

Dholpur is the constituency of Shobah Rani Kushwaha, who won it in 2017 after the incumbent – her husband Banwari Lal Kushwaha – was convicted in a murder case. Though Banwari Lal Kushwaha belonged to Mayawati’s party, the BJP offered a ticket to his wife. The election was a prestige issue for the BJP, and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje campaigned for days at Dholpur palace to craft a victory.

The Congress had suffered its worst humiliation in Rajasthan in 2013, winning only 21 of the 200 assembly seats. Vasundhara Raje had swept to power with 163 seats.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

Rahul’s Mega Rajasthan Road Show From Vasundhara Raje’s Home Turf

The Congress was wiped out in most of Rajasthan in the last state elections in 2013 but managed to retain a toehold in the Dholpur-Bharatpur belt, winning four seats.

Rahul Gandhi’s mega road show in six constituencies in Rajasthan’s Dholpur and Bharatpur today is aimed at taking on Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on her home ground.

Ms Raje belongs to the former royal family of Dholpur and is popular as “Maharani Sahib” to voters there.

In the by-election to the assembly seat in April 2017, it was her focused campaign run from inside Dholpur Palace that managed to dislodge the Bahujan Samaj Party and win the Dholpur seat for the BJP.

But Dholpur in eastern Rajasthan, that borders Uttar Pradesh, is a fertile ground for the Congress.

The Congress was wiped out in most of Rajasthan in the last state elections in 2013 but managed to retain a toehold in the Dholpur-Bharatpur belt, winning four seats. The Congress had a higher vote share, of 34.5 per cent, than that of the BJP in Dholpur.

This is why, the party believes, Rahul Gandhi’s public outreach programme with the 163-km road show, can boost the Congress’ prospects in the upcoming elections. “We have a good chance in east Rajasthan. That is why Rahul Gandhi is here and we are taking on the Chief Minister not just in Dholpur but in all 200 seats,” said Rajsthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot.

There’s another reason why the Congress is starting its election campaign from this part of Rajasthan, and that is the Mayawati factor. The Dalit powerhouse announced last week that her party will fight the elections on its own. She gave a shock to the Congress last week, ruling out any alliance with the party in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. In the last elections, her party did better in Dholpur than it did in the rest of Rajasthan.

But the BJP is not entirely worried about the BSP.

“It is true that Mayawati impacts a certain vote bank. But the maximum she has ever got in Rajasthan has been 4 per cent of the vote share,” said Rajendra Rathore, a minister in the Vasundhara Raje cabinet.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

Assembly Election Rallies Live Updates: PM Modi In Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi To Address Rally In Madhya Pradesh

With the Election Commission expected to announce the dates for Assembly Elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh among other dates, political parties are sending their star campaigners to these states to better their chances in the upcoming elections. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Rajasthan today, his political rival Rahul Gandhi will visit Madhya Pradesh.

BJP chief Amit Shah will also head to Madhya Pradesh, where he is expected to make multiple visits over the next few days to meet party workers, respective spokespersons of the two parties said. The Congress chief will arrive in Morena via Gwalior to take part in Ekta Parishad conclave, a party spokesperson said. He will proceed to Jabalpur on the same day where he will perform’ Narmada Puja’ at Gwari Ghat and later hold a roadshow.

Amit Shah will visit Indore today where he will meet party workers from Indore and Ujjain regions, a BJP spokesperson said. He will visit Gwalior on October 9 to meet party workers.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is in Madhya Pradesh for a day-long visit to the poll-bound state. Here, posters can be seen in Jabalpur where Rahul Gandhi will perform a Narmada Puja at Gwari Ghat today. He will also address a public gathering in Jabalpur. This is Rahul Gandhi’s third visit to Madhya Pradesh in less than 20 days.

With an eye on assembly polls due later this year, BJP president Amit Shah in Indore will formally launch the party’s mass contact campaign in the crurcial Malwa-Nimad region of Madhya Pradesh to woo voters especially traders, tribals and farmers. Amit Shah will launch the ‘Maha Jansampark Abhiyan’ from historic Rajwada area and walk for nearly 15 minutes up to Krishnapura Chhatri area to appeal people in the dense commercial area to vote for the BJP.

The Congress had won the Ajmer Lok Sabha seat by defeating BJP’s Ramswaroop Lamba who is the son of former Ajmer MP Sanwar Lal Jat in the bypolls held earlier in 2018. The seat went to bypoll after the then sitting MP Sanwar Lal Jat died due to cardiac arrest last year.

Poll-bound Rajasthan’s Ajmer district has eight assembly constituencies and seven of them are represented by BJP MLAs while the Congress has one seat of Nasirabad. The BJP, which had lost the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency to Congress in bypolls held earlier this year, is trying to build a favourable atmosphere and mood among the voters by holding the rally of PM Modi, who had addressed an election rally in Ajmer in 2013 also.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Ajmer in Rajasthan today, marking the conclusion of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s state-wide ‘Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra’ which she had begun from Rajsamand’s Charbhujanath temple.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

Modi in Rajasthan on October 6, Rahul Gandhi on 10th

Election-bound Rajasthan is all set to see intensification of campaigning in the coming days as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and Congress president Rahul Gandhi are scheduled to visit the state.

Modi will address a rally in Ajmer on Saturday, two days after Shah addresses party workers and ex-servicemen in Sikar followed by a meeting with party workers in Bikaner.

The Congress will seek to counter these high-profile rallies through Gandhi’s rally in Bikaner on October 10, marking his third visit to the state in two months.

Prime Minister Modi would be visiting the state for the second time in a week. He had come to Jodhpur on September 28 to attend the Combined Commanders’ Conference and to inaugurate Prakram Parv on the occasion of the second anniversary of the surgical strikes carried out by India in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir in 2016. This time, the PM’s visit will mark the culmination of CM Vasundhara Raje’s Gaurav Yatra, which began on August 4.

“In the last 15 days, Amit Shah has visited Rajasthan five times to chalk out the poll strategy,” said a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be identified.

“Rajasthan is important for us not only for retaining power in the state but also for getting maximum seats in the Lok Sabha election, which looks to be poised for a tight finish.

Last time, Rajasthan gave us 25 out of 25 seats.”

Both the parties are looking to step up the momentum with the visits of their main central leaders.

“While the BJP banks on the charisma of Modi-Shah duo, Congress has a lone acceptable face in Rajasthan among its central leaders – Rahul Gandhi. The party will therefore have to depend more on its state leaders – Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot and CP Joshi,” said a Congress functionary.
The BJP, on the other hand, is depending more on its central leadership.

“Central ministers like Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and CR Chaudhary have a larger role to play.

Besides, the central leadership is likely to field more central ministers and leaders in Rajasthan polls parallel to the state leadership,” said a BJP leader.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.