“Modi tujhse bair nahi nahi, Vasundhara teri khair nahi” (No problems with you Modi but Vasundhara we won’t spare you. One of the most popular catchphrases this time in Rajasthan elections. Ask anyone and they will tell you that BJP is losing this one. Big. Full marks to Congress propagandists for winning the early perception wars. But was it too early for the Congress? Looks like it. After a long phase of peaking, Congress seems to be crumbling.
As Congress was busy bringing the Gehlot and Pilot camps on the same page and appeasing the Jats who seemed miffed with Congress after the inclusion of Manvendra Singh, the party is faced a huge challenge.
With the release of the names for the upcoming General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan, many Congress workers have started protesting against the party high command over the ticket distribution. Preparations are in full swing in poll bound Rajasthan as the state is going to be an uphill task for BJP, as the voters have been known to swing infamously between Congress and BJP.
But the ongoing rift in Congress due to ticket distribution is posing a serious threat to the party and it seems that it is going to be a tough job for them to defeat the incumbent Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje.
A public fight has now erupted, accusing Congress High command of selling tickets. The recent controversy comes from Kota where Rajasthan Congress General Secretary, Pankaj Mehta broke in front of camera. While interacting with media persons Mehta and his supporters alleged that tickets were being sold in the party in lieu of flats and plots, after which Mehta was all in tears. Further, the party office at Kota was vandalized by party workers and members of Youth Congress.
Same controversy sparked at Bikaner after Rajasthan assembly’s current Opposition Leader Rameshwar Lal Dudi threatened party High command with refusal to fight elections, if his aide wasn’t given a ticket. Party then offered ticket to his aide Kanhaiyalal Jhanwar who had joined the party 4-5 days ago from Bikaner East constituency. Aftermath of this, Yashpal Gehlot who was previously allotted the ticket, staged protest in Bikaner as his supporters ransacked the city and resorted to violence damaging public property and creating ruckus across the city. The situation became so bad that the police had to impose Section 144 in two areas. Prior to this, supporters of BD Kalla took to the railway tracks, obstructing the routes after which Kalla was offered the ticket from Bikaner West constituency.
https://www.facebook.com/RepublicWorld/videos/566677540469121/
Last week on Thursday, many angry workers, vexed over ticket distribution knocked the doors of the party president, Rahul Gandhi. Workers from several seats, including Nandabai, Basseeri, Churu, Bharatpur reached to meet Rahul Gandhi but police stopped them outside his residence. When the workers failed to meet him, they sat on a ‘Dharna’. However they were detained by the police later. Protesting workers were demanding: “Instead of parachute candidates, request him to give tickets to those who gave blood & toil to Congress”.
Delhi: Congress workers who had gathered outside residence of party President Rahul Gandhi after list of candidates for #RajasthanElections2018 was released tonight,detained;say"Instead of parachute candidates, request him to give tickets to those who gave blood&toil to Congress" pic.twitter.com/gv0NJIzVEG
— ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2018
The angry workers not only sat on dharna but surrounded Sachin Pilot’s car as he was coming out of Gandhi’s residence at Tughlaq Lane in New Delhi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHloPxH2V6c
The Congress workers protesting outside Rahul Gandhi’s residence said that the Congress president talks about empowering the youth but ignores them while distributing tickets.
राजस्थान में कांग्रेस कार्यकर्ता अपने प्रदेश अध्यक्ष का आदर सत्कार करते हुए… pic.twitter.com/4Zyz3P7mGl
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) November 17, 2018
The workers further accused the leadership of selling seats. They further alleged that the party fielded parachute candidates on many seats at the altar of ground workers working for years. This is a grievance with which Congress workers of other states are also familiar with.
Chhattisgarh and Telangana witnessed the same, in Chhattisgarh Congress leaders allegedly ransacked the party offices in Raipur and Bilaspur districts and also raised slogans against the party leadership over ticket distribution. Former Hyderabad Mayor and Congress leader Banda Karthika Reddy, along with her husband Chandra Reddy, sat in protest outside Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s residence after she was denied a ticket to contest the upcoming Telangana elections. Banda Karthika Reddy said that she was denied a ticket despite giving thirty years to the party.
The revolt of the cadre coupled with the infighting within the Congress over leadership issues has compounded the problems for Congress in the poll-bound states. In Rajasthan where the opinion polls were giving the party an early advantage don’t seem to have factored in the ground realities.
Congress is not winning this one for sure!
