Rajasthan will go to polls on November 25. Both the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have not announced their chief ministerial faces. During a recent rally in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The BJP in Rajasthan has only one face – the Lotus.”
Against this backdrop, The Wire spoke exclusively to Rajasthan’s Congress unit chief, Govind Singh Dotasra, about the upcoming elections, the power tussle between his party and the BJP, and the issues at stake in this election.
The state is known to alternate between the BJP and Congress governments every five years. However, Dotasra is confident that his party, this time around, will buck the trend, by re-electing the Congress government.
“Will the people of Rajasthan look for Modi Ji and Nadda Ji if the BJP comes to power in the state? We are here, available for the people and we will be here even after elections unlike Nadda and Prime Minister,” says Dotasra, countering BJP’s campaign centred around the prime minister and its national leadership.
Word has it that the Congress’ central election committee has already cleared the names of its candidates for 106 out of 200 seats in the state. The list of nominees could be out anytime soon. The BJP, for its part, has released its list of nominees for 41 seats so far, which has sparked discontent in the party. Vasundhara Raje’s camp feels her faction in the party has been sidelined, with the party ignoring the names proposed by it.
Below are the excerpts from Dotasra’s interview:
There is a criticism that people are disappointed with the Congress government’s Right to Health scheme because private hospitals are not being able to manage patients. People now have to wait for hours for their turn in private hospitals. Do you feel that your government has been too hasty in implementing the scheme?
See, this initiative, which we have taken in the state, hasn’t been undertaken by any other state in the country. In Rajasthan, people are getting free healthcare. Also, if you see in Chiranjivi Yojna, people are getting health insurance as well. I believe we are doing better compared to any other state.
You spoke about the healthcare system, comparing it to other states. There is one more thing that is being compared to other states, i.e., NCRB data, which says that Rajasthan has recorded the highest number of rape cases. What do you have to say about this?
I don’t agree with this because there is a difference between registering an FIR and getting convicted. In our state, the first thing we do is to register an FIR, because we believe in taking action immediately.
Seven BJP MPs will be contesting this year’s Vidhan Sabha election. Do you think the Congress will face a tough fight?
No, we don’t. These are those MPs who haven’t done anything in the years. They won due to the wave in favour of Modi. They won’t be getting tickets in 2024. So, the BJP gave them one last chance to prove themselves. I am sure they will lose, and there will be no turning point for them, as they are now unwanted MPs for the BJP in Rajasthan.
Why hasn’t the Congress declared the CM face yet just like the BJP given that the Congress already has CM Ashok Gehlot?
At least, we have said that we will fight together and will decide later after winning this election. But see what the BJP is saying, they don’t want to speak on anything. They are asking people to see the symbol and vote. They are cheating the people. I ask them if people will have to go in search of Narendra Modi and Nadda if they win by any chance here in Rajasthan. They are here for the elections and will be absent from the state after the elections.
The number of student suicides in Kota are its peak. What steps are being taken by the government to address the issue?
In Kota, students from all around the world come to study. They are under pressure from parents and teachers, but we have committees to resolve such issues in the state. Our team is working on it. We will resolve this soon.
Rajasthan has been in the news in the last five years for question papers leak in recruitment exams.
The paper leak began during the Vasundhara Raje’s government. This isn’t the issue of our state, but I believe that we are trying our best to resolve this issue. We have already arrested more than 200 people and made laws regarding the same. The punishment for leaking a question paper in the state is life imprisonment.
No government has been re-elected in Rajasthan. People of Rajasthan alternate between BJP and Congress governments. Do you think the Congress government will be able to buck this trend?
I’m confident that this time the people of Rajasthan have made up their minds to bring us back in power, as they have seen that if they had elected us earlier, schemes like the Right to Health would have been available to the people much earlier.
