Tag: rajathan elections

No Muslim among 162 BJP candidates in Rajasthan Polls : Is party back to Hindutva?

Of the 162 BJP candidates, announced so far in two instalments for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly polling for which is due on December 7, one absence the observers have marked is of any Muslim candidate, strengthening the perception that the party is playing the Hindutva card.

Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, who comes from Alwar, strongly denies the Hindutva slant, yet there are others in the party who say the BJP knows it well that Muslims in Rajasthan don’t constitute a vote bank.

One of the sitting MLAs, Habibur Rehman from Nagaur, on Wednesday joined the Congress when he failed to find his name in the list released on Sunday.

Rahman said the BJP is playing the Hindutva card in Rajasthan.

Another state minister Yunus Khan too failed to find his name. But, unlike Rehman, Khan has expressed his loyalty to the party.

Soon after the BJP released its first list of candidates, general secretary of BJP’s Minority cell M Sadiq had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing his concern as to how party members would reach out to the community if Muslims don’t get the party nomination.

The BJP in 2013 had fielded four Muslim candidates. Two of them were elected: Habibur Rehman from Nagaur seat and Yunus Khan from Deedwana.

“The BJP is a democratic party unlike the Congress where a board decides a candidate. The candidates are selected keeping in mind a variety of factors, including candidates’ strengths,” said Mahesh Sharma.

Avinash Rai Khanna, BJP’s Rajasthan election in-charge, said party candidates are shortlisted after ‘raishumari’ in consultation with grassroots workers as well as top leaders. He said the final BJP list is yet to come and until then no conclusion should be drawn on the composition of candidates based on caste and religion.

Rajasthan Congress vice-president Archana Sharma said, “The BJP could not perform in the state. Now they are trying to polarise the situation. But this won’t work… Rajasthan is no Uttar Pradesh.”

Salawat Khan, General Secretary, BJP Minority Morcha, said in the last elections, the party gave four tickets to Muslims. “So far we have not been given any party nomination. We are still hopeful that the party would consider candidates from the community,” he said.

In 2013 polls, the BJP had swept 163 of 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan.

 

 

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.

Vasundhara Raje Govt Builds 50 Holy Statues Ahead of Polls, Congress Cries Vote Bank Politics

Download App For Live Updates On Rajasthan Election News:

Click Here : rajasthan512.png

Be it Rajputs and Jats or the members of camel-herding and ST/SC communities, the BJP government in Rajasthan has come up with a way to please them all before the upcoming assembly elections. A many as 50 panoramas of local religious deities, noblemen, saints and warriors — from various communities — have been built across the state.

For instance, the members of Rajasthan’s Jat community are devotees of a local deity called Veer Tejaji, and Vasundhara Raje government has built a panorama of Tejaji at Kharnal Village in Nagour district. Kharnal is the birth place of Tejaji and the devotees go there to offer prayers. The western Rajasthan, known to be a Jat-dominated area, will play a key role in determining the fate of 40 seats in the upcoming election.

For the Scheduled Caste community, the government has built a panorama of Ramdev ji, also known as Ramdev Baba, in Ramdevra Village of Jaislmer District. Ramdev Baba has a huge following among the ST/SC community.
Same is the case with the camel-herding communities Raika and Rebari, which worship Pabuji Rathore. The folk-deity’s statue and panorama have been placed in Jodhpur’s Kolu Village. Pabuji is also popular among people from the Schedule Caste.

Several historic Rajput rulers and warriors from history have also found a place in the list. A panorama of Mughal-era ruler Amar Singh Rathore, who had defied the might of Shah Jahan at the royal court in Agra, has been placed in Nagour. Amar Singh Rathore is seen as an icon of bravery and freedom by the Rajputs, another major caste in the State. Every year, the Rajput community celebrates his birth day in Nagour.

Other panoramas include those of legendary saints such as Meera Bai, Sant Ravidas and Sant Bhagat Peepa.

Accusing the Raje government of vote bank politics, state’s Congress spokeperson Archana sharma said, “The Raje government is politicising these Panoramas as caste and community symbols for vote bank politics.” But Onkar Singh Lakhawat, chairman of Rajasthan’s Heritage Promotion Board, refuted these allegations, saying the BJP is only trying to pay tribute to the unsung heroes through the panoramas.

Since cow protection has become a major issue in Rajasthan due to cases of lynching in the past, the government has portrayed local deities Veer Tejaji and Pabuji Rathore as cow vigilantes who sacrificed their lives to protect the animal.

Muslim freedom fighters have also found place in the list, in what seems like a bid to give out the message of secularism. In Alwar, which was in the news recently for a lynching incident in name of saving cows, the Raje government has erected panoramas of Hasan Khan Mewati, a freedom fighter from the Meo community.

Disclaimer: RSS has been taken from their official website.