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Journalism of Courage
In this temple town today, Vasundhara Raje took her first hesitant steps as the BJP’s new state party chief to usher in change — in her party’s fortunes and in her own troubled image. Her ‘Parivartan Yatra’, in an air-conditioned rath, was flagged off by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani.
But not before Pramod Mahajan had given Vasundhara an official image makeover. ‘‘She is no longer Dholpur’s maharani,’’ he told the crowd, calling her Vasundhara ‘‘didi’’. She will be taking the Yatra to all the assembly constituencies in the next three months.
But the beleaguered state party chief didn’t have senior state leaders Ramdas Agarwal, who is in charge of the party affairs in Rajasthan, Hari Shankar Bhavra, former deputy chief minister, and Ghanshyam Tiwari by her side, indicating the state of affairs in the party.
On this ‘‘familiarisation trip’’, Vasundhara, firmly wrapping her pink sari around her head, waved to the crowds. She tried winning them over with a smattering of the local lingo. She even attempted to have an interactive session with the audience, but the 15,000-odd people sitting under the harsh April sun showed little enthusiasm.
Abandoning the tell-me-your-problem approach, she then quickly launched into a tirade against the Gehlot government.
Not mentioning the ‘trishul’ issue even once, Raje concentrated on the drought in the state. Bringing up the water and power crisis, she told the villagers that she had come to ‘‘wipe their tears’’ and vowed to overthrow the Gehlot government.
‘‘The Congress won with a big majority and came to power. But now they have forgotten how to govern, sitting in their air-conditioned assembly, whereas we have come to you,’’ she said, adding that once the BJP came to power, water, electricity and employment would no longer be a problem.
Mahajan kept the rally going with his speech on what change BJP was talking about. ‘‘This rally is not just to change the government in Jaipur or to change the Chief Minister. After four-and-a-half years, Vasundahra Raje is coming to bring a smile on your troubled faces,’’ he said.
He said the Central Government had done everything to help the state fight the drought, accusing the state of not doing its bit. ‘‘Jo sarkar do ghoont pani ke liye rajya ko tarsati hai, uske chief minister ko do boond pani mein doob marna chahiye,’’ (the chief minister who makes his people beg for two drops of water should commit suicide) Mahajan said, evoking the loudest applause of the hot afternoon.
But it was Advani’s helicopter that saved the day. When the quiet, listless crowds which were slowly making their way back heard the whir in the distant, they stopped and turned around.
On his part, Advani just chose to walk down memory lane in a short speech and recount all his past experiences in the state.
‘‘I have just come here to give Vasundhara Raje my best wishes,’’ he said, before waving the flag and sending the on its way into the heat and dust of Rajasthan.
