The Hindu : Cong. turns attention to Rajasthan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 18, 2002

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Cong. turns attention to Rajasthan

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI DEC. 17. With Gujarat lost for five more years, the Congress has begun to focus on the States under its control that are going to the polls in the coming years. Top on the list is Rajasthan where the loss of the three Assembly seats in the just concluded byelections typify the steady decline in the party's fortunes.

For the Congress leadership as well as the representatives from Rajasthan, the State is a major cause for worry. The leadership is concerned over the spillover effects of the results from Gujarat, while the MPs from the State believe that unless the leadership acts decisively, and change the leadership, the State could be lost. Several senior leaders, including MPs such as Girija Vyas, Buta Singh and Rameshwar Doodi, are reported to have called on the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to change the Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot. Though there have been similar demands from time to time, Mr. Gehlot has not helped his cause by the inability of the Congress to win a single byelection in the State save the Ajmer seat. In the recent byelections, the Congress lost its traditional stronghold of Sangwara, and the Bansur and Bali seats. "For the first time in 50 years, we lost the Sangwara seat,'' pointed out a party MP.

His detractors have been focussing on the lacklustre Government performance and the Chief Minister's "inability" to provide an efficient administration. They say the Chief Minister does not command a following either amongst the Jats or Rajputs — two of Rajasthan's dominant castes.

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