Ten years on, faced with the task to revive the sagging fortunes of the party, Raje is out to repeat the feat. This time her yatra, which will cover 33 districts and more than 13,000 kilometres, is christened Suraaj Sankalp Yatra – good governance tour. The similarities between the two yatras are limited: the venue, Chaarbhuja, a religious town in Rajsamand district, and the time of the launch, the month of April when farmers usually remain free.
However, the challenge this time round could be much bigger for the royal. And most of it does not have to do with the Congress – the latter took out a copycat Sandesh Yatra in a hurry to pre-empt her, Sandesh Yatra, and is already dispirited with the lacklustre response from the electorate. It’s also not about the challenge within for the chief minister’s job. BJP national president Rajnath Singh has made it clear in unequivocal terms that she “is the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate” in the coming elections.
A significant threat to the party’s prospects this time around is party rebel Kirori Lal Meena, a sworn detractor of Raje. The independent MP from Dausa constituency, Meena began his yatra much before the BJP and the Congress and has so far conducted more than 60 successful public meetings in the state. After assessing the public mood, Meena recently announced launch of PA Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) in Rajasthan and has announced that he would field candidates in all 200 constituencies.
“Both Congress and BJP are looting the people. The aim of my political tours is to provide people friendly governance,” says Meena adding menacingly that he would ensure Raje never came back to power. Meena was part of Raje’s Parivartan Yatra in 2003 but things fell apart once BJP won the election. Meena says he did not like Raje’s style of functioning and parted ways with the party in 2008.
The BJP has reason to worry about his threat. The tribal leader has sway over 10 constituencies of the state and played a pivotal role in BJP’s defeat in 2008 elections by taking away six assembly seats from the saffron party’s kitty. If other known dissenters of Raje within the BJP such as Ramdas Agarwal and Ghanshyam Tiwari join hands with Meena, she could find the going the tough. Both have distanced themselves from the Sankalp Yatra and Tiwari has had his own roadshow, Dev-Darshan Yatra recently. BJP sources, however, inform that such an alliance is unlikely.
Raje, however, seems ready for all the challenges. Accused of being condescending towards ordinary people in her earlier tenure, she seems to have toned down her royal airs a lot. She even rode on the bike of a party worker during her tour in the tribal belt of Dungarpur district recently. Political analysts observe repeating 2003 should not be difficult for her because she still has appeal among people and the Congress has not done enough to ward off the slowly building anti-incumbency sentiment. She will have her eyes on the youth, who are frustrated at the lack of job opportunities.
What will work in her favour is the support from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Both shared an uncomfortable relationship earlier and not many in the Sangh Parivar outfit were happy at her elevation as the party’s chief minister candidate. Raje has addressed that issue with changes in her core team. It includes people from the RSS too.
Will she repeat the feat of 2003? Well, many here believe she has an even chance.
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