The Hindu Business Line : The Gehlot mantra works here

"Whether it is roads or the power situation, telecom or use of IT in infrastructure, and, most of all, the management of drought, the Gehlot government has done work on a scale rarely seen in Rajasthan. I don't know much about politics but you just talk to the people and you will find support for this government."

Jaipur , Nov. 22

FOR a man who was under the threat of losing his job as Chief Minister barely a year ago, and had to make several trips to Delhi and sometimes wait for days before getting an audience with the Congress (I) high command, the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, is in a pretty cushy position. With just nine days to go for the polls, a quick round of Jaipur, the capital, shows that the Gehlot mantra works here.

D.C. Gangwal, an assistant general manager at one of the SBI branches in Ajmer, is positive that "the good work done by this government" will ensure victory for Ashok Gehlot.

"When you talk to people, you will find out how much his government has done. Whether it is effective drought management or development of the infrastructure - roads, power supply and other facilities - an average Rajasthani is happy with the Chief Minister."

Abhay Mittal, a software engineer working for an American company lives in Singapore. His father, an IAS officer, who held a high post in Delhi when he retired a few years ago, has settled down in Jaipur.

Abhay has been coming every two months to Rajasthan, mostly on work, to find "a change for the better."

"Whether it is roads or the power situation, telecom or use of IT (information technology) in infrastructure, and, most of all, the management of drought, the Gehlot government has done work on a scale rarely seen in Rajasthan. I don't know much about politics but you just talk to the people in and around Jaipur and you will find support for this government," he says.

He, as a resident of Singapore, of course has no voting rights and will be spending the next two weeks holidaying with his family.

But Ram Rattan Meena, who mans the pre-paid taxi counter at the Jaipur airport, is eagerly waiting for the voting day. "All of us, my family and friends, will vote for the Congress (I). We have no complaints with this government. Despite four years of drought, it did not let the people of Rajasthan suffer. Agar Ashok Gehlot Rajasthan ke mukhya mantri na baney tau woh Rajasthan ka durbhagya hoga, or logo ke liye bahut mehenga pad sakta hei (If Gehlot doesn't become the chief minister again, that will be Rajasthan's misfortune and will cost it dearly)," he says.

On the other hand, continuing the "mehenga" (costly) metaphor, my taxi driver, Jagdish Meena, says ominously, "Agar Vasundhara Raje yaha ki mukhya mantri ban gayi tau who hamarey liye bahut mehenga hoga (If Vasundhara Raje becomes our chief minister, we will have to pay dearly for it)."

When asked to explain, he merely says, "Arrey bhai, woh tau Maharani hei (she's a queen)." Brings to mind the footage from the `Gustakhi maaf' programme of NDTV-India, the network's Hindi channel, which airs daily programmes where the main rivals, presented as puppets, fight it out in the studio. In one such episode, Gehlot takes a jibe at Raje's flashing different and expensive Rajasthani costumes at different regions of the State, to woo the voters. With mock concern he worries about the amount of water required to wash all those clothes. To which she replies that as usual he was lying and misrepresenting facts. "Mei tau apney kapdey dry cleaning ke liye deti hu. (I get my clothes dry-cleaned)."

Clearly it is the Rani against the Mali (Gehlot's caste) in Rajasthan. While Raje is seen as an outsider, Gehlot is seen as one who has helped in the State's development. But while the word "development" is being bandied about freely, if the Congress (I) does make it with the kind of majority expected - the latest Aaj Tak-ORG Marg poll gives it between 120 and 130 seats against the BJP's 55-65 in a house of 200 seats - it would be on the strength of the Gehlot government's effective management of four successive years of drought.

As Jagdish puts it, "This year of course the rains have been good. But in the last four years of drought, I can tell you from the experience of my relatives who live in the villages. Koi bhookha nahi mara (nobody died of hunger.) At the end of the day all of us - whether in towns or villages - have to work hard to get our food, but when there is drought, the government has to help."

Vivek Ramkumar, a member of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) - the organisation does not have office bearers and the key functionaries are all `members' - which works in Rajasthan's villages, told Business Line,

"Though I would not give a clean chit to the Gehlot government on all counts or all aspects of drought management, from our extensive work in the villages, it is clear that drought management during this government's tenure has been far better than in the past. Though not across the board, in several areas we see improvement and the farmers in those areas are happy. This is certainly bound to have an impact on the way the voters vote on the polling day."

The MKSS is also a component of Election Watch, which has been set up with representatives of different segments of civil society, and is now in the process of going through the 700-odd affidavits the organisation has managed to get its hand on.

The affidavits are mandatory, and in these the candidates have to declare their educational background, financial assets as well as give account of any criminal cases filed against them.

There are over 1,500 candidates in the fray but Election Watch is interested in scrutinising the details filed by the candidates from the main political parties.

"We are in the process of going through these affidavits and find that many of them are not very honest declarations. Some have very obviously understated their property value, and some other candidates have put their wealth at ridiculously low levels."

But then as Ram Rattan says philosophically, "Paisa kaun nahi banata? (Who doesn't make money?) But then this government has done some real work, for which the people are grateful."

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