Rajasthan Elections 2023: The nine state leaders who matter

Rajasthan Elections 2023: Among the principal players, nine stalwarts in the fray deserve special focus.

The electoral landscape of Rajasthan is basically a battle between Congress welfarism and BJP’s bet on identity politics. But in the clash between the parties, some top leaders are likely to sway the 5.3 crore voters who exercise their franchise today.

Among the principal players, nine stalwarts in the fray deserve special focus.

1] Ashok Gehlot: For decades, Ashok Gehlot has been called the Jaadugar (magician) of Rajasthan politics and he has been a central pole of the current election. Gehlot has become the Congress lodestar, thanks to his welfare schemes which the ruling party sees as its winning mantra. But his rift with Pilot could be a huge hurdle, especially in east Rajasthan. While his victory in Jodhpur’s Sardarpura seat is a given, Gehlot’s real task is to save his government and become the Rajasthan Chief Minister for the fourth time. With his legacy and future at stake, Gehlot is using every trick in his toolbox to buck Rajasthan’s revolving door trend.

2] Vasundhara Raje: Ever since she became the first woman chief minister of the desert state, Vasundhara Raje has been a shining star of Rajasthan politics. Despite leading  the BJP to sweeping victories in 2003 and 2013, Raje has been sought to be marginalised by the party’s top brass since the saffron brigade lost the 2018 elections. In the current polls, she was initially sidelined in ticket distribution but with a storm of protests erupting, Raje was soon mollified with most of her loyalists getting tickets. Winning her Jhalrapatan seat in Jhalawar is just a formality but it's returning to the centrestage that is Raje’s driving force.

3] Sachin Pilot: After perhaps the most tumultuous five years of his life, Sachin Pilot still remains a dominant force in Rajasthan’s political landscape. Since his revolt against Gehlot’s leadership in 2020, Pilot is neither the Deputy CM of Rajasthan nor the state Congress chief but his youthful charisma makes him a frontrunner in all popularity polls in the state. Winning the Tonk seat is hardly a tough task for Pilot who won by the highest margin in the 2018 elections. Besides his appeal to youth voters, the Congress expects him to shore up the Gujjar vote which was critical for the Congress win in the last elections.

4] Rajendra Rathore: A seven-time MLA who has not lost any assembly election since 1990, Rajendra Rathore is one of the strongest Rajput leaders of the BJP. Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly, this time Rathore has shifted from Churu to Taranagar seat where he’s facing a tough test against Jat stalwart of the Congress Narendra Budania, a former Lok Sabha MP from Churu. Rathore was once considered the second-in-command in Vasundhara Raje governments of the past. But in recent years, the two have fallen out and Rathore is now seen as a CM contender in case of a BJP win.

 5] CP Joshi: Seasoned Congress leader CP Joshi, the Speaker of the outgoing assembly, is often considered the unluckiest leader of Rajasthan. This is primarily because in the 2008 assembly elections, he lost the Nathdwara seat by a single vote though he was widely tipped to be the Chief Minister in case of a Congress win. Later, Joshi contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and became a Union minister in the Congress-led UPA government. As one of the senior-most Congress leaders, he is a trouble-shooter for the party in Rajasthan. He has won the Nathdwara seat five times but this time Joshi faces a tricky challenge from BJP’s Vishvaraj Singh, a member of Mewar’s former royal family.

 6] Diya Kumari: A member of Jaipur’s former royal family, Diya Kumari has suddenly hit the spotlight in the current elections. A Lok Sabha MP from Rajsamand, Diya was made the BJP candidate from Jaipur's prestigious Vidhyadhar Nagar seat replacing Narpat Singh Rajvi, a five-time MLA and son-in-law of the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Though the move ignited a political storm, it is telling that despite her limited political experience, Diya has won the favour of the BJP’s top brass. BJP insiders say Diya is being seen as a potential Raje replacement.

 7] Govind Singh Dotasra: State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, one of the the tallest Jat leaders of the party is locked in a titanic tussle in the Shekhawati region. He is  pitted against former Union minister Subhash Maharia of BJP in Sikar’s Lachhmangarh seat. The duo are locking horns after a decade as Dotasra had defeated Maharia in the 2013 polls.  An Ashok Gehlot loyalist, Dotasra was made the state president after Sachin Pilot revolted in 2020. Though he largely remains low-profile, the ED raids on his premises last month put Dotasra in the spotlight and added spice to the electoral scene.

8] Baba Balaknath: Baba Balaknath or ‘Rajasthan’s Yogi’, as he is popularly called, is the most-talked-about Hindutva hardliner fielded by the BJP. A sitting MP from Alwar, he is now contesting the assembly polls from the Tijara seat in the heart of Mewat region, infamous for cow lynching. He filed his nomination on a bulldozer and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath came to Tijara to push his campaign. He accuses CM Ashok Gehlot of creating a “fatwa regime” and with the Congress fielding a Muslim candidate against him, he has likened his election to an ‘India-Pakistan match’. His polarising rhetoric reflects the BJP’s intent in this communally sensitive region.

9] Hanuman Beniwal: The convenor of Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, Hanuman Beniwal is a rapidly rising force, especially in the state’s Jat belt. He won the Nagaur Lok Sabha seat in alliance with the BJP in 2019 but broke the partnership over the farm laws. A favourite among Jat youth, this time Beniwal has forged a tie up with Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Azad and claims their alliance will make Rajasthan ‘free of the BJP and the Congress’. The RLP won 3 seats in the 2018 polls but is now contesting nearly a hundred seats and is an intriguing factor in the poll battle.

As Rajasthan votes, these nine leaders and quite a few others will have affected the poll verdict in vital ways. All that remains to be seen is whose influence wanes and whose rises when the votes are counted on December 3.

Rajan Mahan is a senior journalist who headed NDTV and Star News in Rajasthan. He was also a Professor of Journalism at the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur. Views are personal, and do not represent the stance of this publication.