Riding on bumpy rural roads in the scorching desert heat through nondescript, dusty villages of the Jodhpur Lok Sabha constituency, a young man clad in white kurta pyjama is making his debut in electoral politics with a pledge to make a difference in ordinary people’s lives. While this may not be his first exposure to rural distress in his home district, he takes note of each issue raised by the villagers he meets with sincerity.
Vaibhav Gehlot, 38, son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, is the Congress candidate in the constituency, which his father represented five times since 1980. On a campaign swing through about 20 villages of the Luni Assembly segment, the younger Gehlot appeared calm and self-assured, ready to counter his political opponents with facts and figures.
“The Marwar region has had a special place in the politics of Rajasthan ... but the way the Centre has neglected it during the past five years is for everyone to see,” Mr. Gehlot said at a campaign stop in Karwar village, which boasts several institutions built during the Congress’s previous tenure in the State from 2008 to 2013.
Karwar Sarpanch Pappu Ram Bishnoi recalled the initiatives taken for the development of the region during the Congress’s previous term. Pointing to institutions such as an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and the Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Ayurveda University that had come up in the village panchayat area, Mr. Bishnoi credited their presence to the sustained efforts put in by the senior Mr. Gehlot.
“Vaibhav ji will take forward the legacy of his illustrious father,” Mr. Bishnoi said in his brief address at the meeting, as the villagers raised slogans in support of the Congress. Observing that he had raised the issue of the curtailment of Sarpanches’ powers in land-related matters, following the establishment of the Jodhpur Development Authority in 2012, with the Gehlot scion, the local leader said he expected “Mr. Gehlot to help us out when he is elected an MP.”
Former Union Minister Chandresh Kumari, who represented Jodhpur between 2009 and 2014 and now resides in Himachal Pradesh, sought the electorate’s backing for Mr. Gehlot. The septuagenarian leader reminded villagers of Mr. Gehlot’s experience in politics both as a general secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee and earlier as a Youth Congress leader. “He has struggled hard ... he has fought for you,” she said.
In the small, remote villages of Luni and Mandor tehsils including Daijar, Paldi Maglia, Jakhron Ki Dhani, Popawas, Keru and Joliyali, Mr. Gehlot spoke of how the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put the Barmer oil refinery in “cold storage” and had failed to provide two crore jobs to the nation’s youth every year or bring back the black money stashed away abroad. “Bring the Congress to power at the Centre this time,” he urged voters. “The survival of democracy is at stake.”
As the residents of several villages complained of water scarcity, erratic power supply and lack of livelihood avenues, Mr. Gehlot noted the issues and promised action. Luni MLA Mahendra Bishnoi asserted that Mr. Gehlot, being the son of a ‘Vikas Purush’ (development icon), would ensure an “unmatched pace” of development that would bring prosperity to the region.
Some villagers sceptical
However, a section of villagers were sceptical and had reservations about the Congress’s narrative.
“The younger Gehlot is not a man of the masses,” said Pappu Singh Chauhan, a resident of Narwa village. “He has not risen from the grassroots. Even if he is elected, he will need his father’s guidance to gain a foothold in national politics. It remains to be seen how far he goes,” he added.
Still, Mr. Gehlot is stepping into electoral politics with a distinct advantage. Of the eight Assembly segments in Jodhpur, the BJP won only two — Soorsagar and Phalodi — in the 2018 Assembly election. The swing in the vote share may dent the prospects of sitting MP and BJP candidate Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who was a serious contender for the post of the BJP State president.
As Mr. Gehlot pledges to ‘fight against injustice’ and promises to be with the people of Jodhpur in their times of need, the villagers are reminded of the senior Gehlot’s oft-quoted remark in the local Marwari dialect, Main Thansu Door Koni (I am not far from you). That comment had sent across a message to the Congress rank and file that Mr. Ashok Gehlot’s rise in national politics ought not to be seen as his exit from the State.
