Wanted: Face to fill Vasundhara gap

After over a decade, the BJP is on the hunt for a suitable candidate for Vasundhara Raje’s Jhalawar parliamentary constituency. And aft...

After over a decade, the BJP is on the hunt for a suitable candidate for Vasundhara Raje’s Jhalawar parliamentary constituency. And after being under the ‘‘maharani sahiba’s’’ reign for 15 long years, Jhalawar is eagerly awaiting her successor.

‘‘This seat has fallen vacant after 15-odd years, obviously political circles here are buzzing with excitement,’’ admits a BJP worker. ‘‘When Vasundharaji was contesting there was no question of anyone opposing her. Now it’s an open playing field.’’

Since 1989, Vasundhara has won every Lok Sabha election from Jhalawar, beating her Congress rivals hands

down. The BJP considers Jhalawar to be one of the safest seats, ‘‘where defeat is out of the question’’. And this is why every contender is going all out to get this ‘‘coveted seat’’.

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In the race, besides veteran BJP hands, is Vasundhara’s son Dushyant Singh. Party sources admit that his name is being ‘‘seriously considered’’, though Dushyant prefers to leave it at ‘‘no comments’’ for the moment.

Dushyant made his first appearance in the political arena in November 2003. Accompanied by his wife, he campaigned for his mother during the Assembly elections. ‘‘And the public response was very good,’’ says a BJP worker. ‘‘People greeted him, he was able to connect with them. His biggest advantage is that he is ‘maharaniji’s’ son.’’

The strategy during the Assembly polls was to woo both the Rajput and the Gujjar votes. While Dushyant was wooing the Rajputs, his wife was working on the Gujjar vote, which constitutes about 10 per cent of the votebank. This time, it is just a question of handing over the ‘‘Jhalawar dynasty in safe hands’’.

‘‘Jhalawar is a safe seat but we are still looking for a winning candidate,’’ says BJP state chief Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi. ‘‘Officially, if Dushyant’s name is proposed, it will be considered.’’

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Besides Dushyant, the other people who are hoping to get lucky include BJP state general secretary S.N. Gupta, district president Sri Krishna Patidar, MLA from Chabra Pratap Singh and local leader Shyam Sundar Sharma. ‘‘It doesn’t matter what we think,’’ says Patidar. ‘‘The final decision is in ‘maharani sahiba’s’ hands. She will choose and we will all abide by her decision.’’

But it’s not just the BJP which has Jhalawar on its mind. Even the Congress is paying special attention to the seat this time. ‘‘We do realise that with Vasundhara out of the picture, our chances of winning this seat are much, much better,’’ admits Congress spokesperson Riazuddin Sheikh. ‘‘The party is assessing the situation from all angles. We are looking at the caste equation and hunting for a strong candidate with a heavyweight image to capitalise the situation.’’ Among the Congress contenders are retired bureaucrat Chandra Prakash Meena and former MLA Shiv Narayan Verma.