New Delhi: During a rally in Rajasthan’s Bikaner last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lambasted the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government for running a “loot ki dukaan” (shop of plunder) and a “jhoot ka bazaar” (market of lies). This invective was carefully calibrated, underscoring the BJP’s strategy of making crime and corruption the centrepiece of its campaign in Rajasthan.
BJP president JP Nadda will visit the state on 16 July to launch the party’s ‘Nahi Sahega Rajasthan’ campaign, which aims to bolster its corruption and crime narrative, ThePrint has learnt.
The party seems to have drawn lessons from the Karnataka polls, where corruption allegations against the BJP helped take the Congress to victory. The BJP is also emphasising law and order, much as it successfully did in Uttar Pradesh, especially targeting women and Dalit voters.
From organising “FIR camps” in villages, to conducting “jan sunwai adalats”, or public hearings of grievances, to orchestrating thali bajao (utensil banging) protests for women along with bike rallies for unemployed youth, the BJP is building up momentum for its narrative in Rajasthan, where assembly elections are due in about five months.
Rajasthan BJP in-charge and national general secretary Arun Singh told ThePrint that the slogan “Nahi Sahega Rajasthan” (Rajasthan will not tolerate any more) is being used to reinforce the party’s stance against “crime, corruption, and appeasement”, which he claimed were rampant under the Gehlot dispensation.
This Wednesday, the killing of murder-accused Kuldeep Jagheena while in police custody near Bharatpur gave the BJP additional ammunition to showcase the alleged lawlessness prevailing in Rajasthan — against which it has already announced protests to be held on 16 July and 1 August.
When news broke of Jagheena’s killing, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje immediately took to Twitter, holding the Gehlot government accountable.
“The murder of gangster Kuldeep Jagheena while in police custody in Bharatpur has added another chapter to the jungle raj of the Congress government,” she tweeted, writing in Hindi. “This incident is the worst example of bad law and order. It is clear that the government is bowing down before the mafias and notorious criminals in the state.”
भरतपुर में पुलिस कस्टडी में ले जाए जा रहे गैंगस्टर कुलदीप जघीना हत्याकांड से कांग्रेस सरकार के जंगलराज में एक और अध्याय जुड़ गया है। जब आप राजस्थान में थानों में फायरिंग व गैंगवार की घटनाएं नहीं रोक पाए। ऐसे में रोडवेज बस में अपराधियों को लेकर जाना तथा बस की सूचना कुलदीप के…
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) July 12, 2023
The BJP high command has also been doing its bit. Speaking at a rally in Udaipur last month, Union Minister Amit Shah accused Gehlot of playing “vote-bank politics” by not forming a special court for the Kanhaiya Lal murder case. The tailor was hacked to death by two Muslim men last year, leading to deepening communal fault lines in the city.
In Bikaner, meanwhile, PM Modi alleged that CM Gehlot had “carved a new identity for himself when it comes to corruption, crime, and politics of appeasement”. Modi had also drawn attention to Rajasthan recording the highest number of rape cases in India (in 2021), accusing the state government of “saving rape and murder accused”.
“The Gehlot government has broken records of corruption and crimes against women. Rape is a normal phenomenon in the state, every day dozens of crimes take place. That is why our campaign will be centered on crime, corruption, unemployment, and appeasement,” said Arun Singh, speaking to ThePrint.
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FIR camps to tulsi plants
To help shape its narrative on crime and corruption, the BJP has introduced initiatives that serve to highlight systemic failure while also appealing to voters.
This includes the unique concept of holding FIR camps in villages, enabling people, especially women and Dalits, to register complaints easily, party leaders told ThePrint. The party also plans to establish jan sunwai adalats (public hearing ‘courts’) in villages, where party leaders will address complaints that may have been neglected by the police and administration.
“There is a significant rise in corruption and crimes against women in the state. To construct a narrative around this, we will hold FIR camps, where affected individuals can register complaints since the police often do not register them. We will ensure that these compiled FIRs reach the police station,” said a senior BJP functionary in Rajasthan.
“Similarly, the party is preparing to hold panchayats in villages to address complaints and grievances. This approach encourages people to come forward and register their complaints, while also helping us connect with them,” he added.
Last week, notably, state president C.P. Joshi participated in a demonstration organised by the BJP women’s wing against sexual violence in the state. Numerous women gathered and beat thalis (utensils) to register their protest.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s ‘Crime in India’ report, released last August, Rajasthan recorded the highest number of rape cases in the country in 2021, with a total of 6,337 reported incidents.
In response, Chief Minister Gehlot had controversially told mediapersons that more than half of these cases were “false” and emphasised the distinction between a rise in crime and an increase in the police’s registration of cases.
In addition to protests for safety and security for women in Rajasthan, the BJP is also doing other kinds of outreach, said Rajasthan BJP Women’s Morcha head, Raksha Bhandari.
“Other than protests, we are also using soft power. We have decided to gift every woman with auspicious tulsi plants, along with a letter citing the PM’s work in the last year,” Bhandari told ThePrint.
“Our Women’s morcha members will also send rakhis to Army men posted at the border next month. Through these measures will help us connect with the women’s constituency,” she added.
In Rajasthan, it is worth noting, women hold significant electoral influence. In the 2018 assembly election, the women’s turnout was 74.66 per cent, surpassing the male turnout of 73.80 per cent.
Significantly, campaign narratives focusing on law and order and crimes against women have been employed by the BJP in the past, such as during the 2017 UP assembly elections, after which it came to power. The image of Yogi Adityanath as “bulldozer baba” continues to resonate with many voters in the state. The BJP also utilised similar themes in Bihar during the 2000-2005 assembly polls, targeting the RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav.
‘85% commission sarkar’
The BJP’s defeat in the Karnataka election was at least partly due to graft allegations and corruption, leveraged by the Congress under its 40 per cent commission government campaign.
This seems to have now influenced the BJP’s strategy in Rajasthan. Prime Minister Modi, during his visit to Ajmer in May, accused the Congress of operating an “85 per cent commission government” in the state.
The party has also latched on to the call for action against corruption by Congress leader and former deputy CM Sachin Pilot, widely seen as a challenger to Gehlot, dubbing it as further evidence of the state government’s purported misdeeds.
“We are asking questions about corruption,” Arun Singh told ThePrint. “Even the Congress’s own leaders are raising questions”.
The BJP is also targeting the youth by highlighting paper leak scams and the issue of rising unemployment.
Earlier this year, Kirodi Lal Meena, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP known for launching agitation programs, led an agitation against the paper leak issue, demanding a CBI probe. Party sources told ThePrint that PM Modi himself had praised Meena for his efforts.
The Rajasthan BJP Youth Morcha will now hold a protest on the paper leak issue in Ajmer on 18 July in front of the office of the service commission conducting the examination.
“Paper leaks have become a regular feature in Rajasthan. It shows that those who are involved have political connections. Years of people’s efforts are washed away due to paper leaks, but Gehlotji has no time to address the issue. This is why we are holding the protest,” said Ankit Gujjar, head of the state BJP Youth Morcha.
Additionally, the BJP is organising rallies for unemployed youth in every district, as well as two massive protests, on 16 July and 1 August, in Jaipur against crime and corruption.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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