A storm of protest has erupted in Rajasthan, with opposition leaders and a group of Raje-haters indulging in ‘tu-tu, main-main’ politics with BJP leaders in the house lately. If the rumors circulating in the party corridors are to be believed, some BJP MLAs have requested the party high-command to replace CM Vasundhara Raje with a young and dynamic face to represent Rajasthan in the upcoming state assembly elections in 2018.
In the words of veteran Congress leader Hansraj Bharadwaj, it’s impractical to remove Vasundhara Raje from her post as she enjoys a strong public mandate. It’s not just the people who support her, but majority of the local MPs and MLAs are with her. The fight between the Centre and the state is quite evident now and the party high command needs to bring these rumors to a standstill, should they want a repeat of 2013’s landslide victory in Rajasthan.
Scrutinizing Raje’s performance in last three years, it’s clear that Rajasthan needs Raje as much as Raje needs Rajasthan; a replacement is simply out of question. Let me tell you why.
When Raje came to power in December 2013, Rajasthan was an impecunious state with deep-rooted corruption, lawlessness and anarchy that needed to be dealt with immediately. While the critics believe that extension of job and education quotas for cultural groups, women-centric safety policies, rainwater harvesting and subsidized meal plans are antiquated steps, overall, the delivery of government policies is a welcomed change.
In an attempt to revolutionize the regulatory landscape of Rajasthan, Raje whipped up a storm of her own by reforming outdated policies, scrapping old laws, framing investor-friendly schemes, encouraging public-private partnerships and making Rajasthan a safe haven for youth and entrepreneurs. Jal Swavlamban, Annapurna Bhandars, Bhamashah, Akhil Command Centre and Mukhbir are long-term initiatives by the government that will yield positive outcomes in a few years from now. It’s premature to certify them as harbingers of the doom or major game changers, at present.
But then, we believe that these endeavors reveal something important—the government of the day is fulfilling its responsibilities with sincerity. Yes, there have been many visionary chief ministers who’ve given lucrative models of development, such as Narendra Modi in Gujarat, Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh and Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu however there administration was aggressive, economic and appropriate for a specific section of the society.
Contrary to this, Raje’s idea of ‘Suraaj’ is a comprehensive idea that spans the entire spectrum of society including 36 communities, all the while addressing key challenges like social justice, education and employment for the masses, infrastructure, effective governance, better standards of living and efficacious implementation of law and order in state.
The government has started working in this direction already, putting up interesting experiments in public service. Today, Rajasthan is a business-friendly, industrial cum tourist hotspot that attracts attention of all the countries. And the CM appears to be balancing privatization with safety nets like jan sunwayi, kalyan shivirs, skill development, health insurance, kisan credit cards and improving the quality of education imparted in government schools, which is why Vasundhara’s demise from the office will be a real tragedy for Rajasthan.
