Congress' welfare plank up against local caste equations in Rajasthan's Marwar

Jodhpur: The main Congress plank in the Rajasthan polls is supposed to be the array of welfare schemes announced in recent months by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

But would that be enough for the party to win a second term in the state? Voters in the Marwar region's Luni, Bilara and Osian assembly constituencies are sending out mixed signals ahead of the November 25 assembly elections.

Many feel that caste will trump sops like pension for the elderly, subsidised cooking gas and free smartphones for women.

In Luni assembly constituency, a group of women waiting outside a fair price shop lauded the government’s schemes that provide pension, free smartphone, ration kits and subsidised LPG cylinder at Rs 500.

"The government schemes are good. I am getting a pension and have got a smartphone as well as ration kits," said Geeta Devi, as other women present in the group nodded in agreement.

A group of men in Bilara constituency, however, said funds used for distributing free smartphones could have been used for solving other civic issues.

"Crores of funds were used in the purchase of mobile phones. We have several drinking water issues and other civic problems in the area. The funds could have been used to solve such basic issues," Laxman Singh said.

Other men gathered there praised the state government's ambitious Chiranjivi Health Scheme, which provides Rs 25 lakh health cover to a family.

With about 2.51 crore women voters in the state out of a total of 5.26 crore, the Congress party has announced several schemes tailor-made for them. Women have been the focus of Ashok Gehlot government's attention in the last five years, and it launched around 10 new schemes exclusively for them while running 34 other women-centric schemes.

Congress has fielded Mohan Lal Kataria from Bilara and Mahendra Bishnoi from Luni, whereas BJP has fielded Arjun Lal Garg and Jogaram Patel from Bilara and Luni respectively.

For others though, long-standing caste equations would dictate the voters’ choice over welfare policies and development issues.

“Development may have happened and schemes may receive praise but people will still vote as they have been doing for generations," former sarpanch of Jhalamand village in Luni block.

Be it assembly polls or the Lok Sabha polls, people in his area would always cast vote for their party (of choice) and then their caste, he added.

A local ration dealer, however, insisted that people do not remember as much about schemes and always prioritise drinking water and better roads.

In Osian assembly constituency, Congress has fielded sitting MLA Divya Maderna against BJP's Bhaira Ram.

“This time it is a direct contest between the Congress and the BJP candidate – like it happened in 2013 – between Bhaira Ram and Leela Maderna,” said a local political analyst.

Anil Kumar, a local seed trader, said that there will be voters who tend to swing between Congress and BJP, and a 10-15 per cent of voters will play a decisive role.

Polling is due on November 25 and counting of votes will take place on December 3.