Lok Sabha elections: In Pali, Congress Will Require All The Luck

It is rare for a local political unit to openly oppose the candidature of its sitting MP, who also happens to be a junior minister. However, that is exactly the case faced by Pali’s BJP candidate and Union minister of state P P Chaudhary, making the battle in the constituency one of the most interesting one in the state this

Lok Sabha

elections.


Chaudhary was a little know politician in 2014, when he was named by the saffron party as its candidate

in Pali

. A bigger surprise was in store in 2017 when, despite being a first-time MP, he was named a junior minister.

But the local BJP unit had raised an objection when he was named the candidate by the party this time too. The reason — in his five-year term, Chaudhary had failed to develop a connect with the local party workers or its elected representatives.

With the party leadership endorsing him again, the local unit has united and fallen in line to ensure that BJP retains Pali, which is considered a party bastion.

“Pali votes for ‘kamal’, for PM Narendra Modi, Chaudhary or no Chaudhary,” they argue. For the time being, Chaudhary has little to worry about a divided house.

Of the eight Lok Sabha elections since 1989, Congress had managed to record a victory twice, once in 1998 and more recently in 2009, while BJP bagged it six times.

In 2014, Chaudhary had won against Congress candidate Munni Devi, with a victory margin of nearly 4 lakh votes. This time around he faces Badri Ram Jakhar, who had earlier represented the seat from 2009 to 2014. Congress has fielded him again hoping to encash on the Jat votes, who are dominant in the assembly segments of Osian, Bilara and

Bhopalgarh

, in the constituency.

The BJP is banking on the support of the Sirvi community, to which Chaudhary belongs, along with its traditional voters, including Rajputs and Brahmins. The biggest support, though, that the BJP has here is from the RSS, which not only wields considerable influence in the constituency but also is in favour of Chaudhary.

Worried that the party’s performance might be affected if the polling percentage goes down, the local BJP and RSS units are presently focusing on mobilizing voters on April 29, when the constituency goes to polls.

The urban area of Pali faces severe impact of GST and demonetisation, which has led to unemployment, even as challenges of pollution continue. Locals believe that successive governments have failed to work for the best interests of the once-flourishing textile industry. The rural areas of the constituency, which consists of eight assembly segments, five in Pali district and three in

Jodhpur

, are largely affected by severe water crisis and farmers’ distress.