The Hindu : In election year, a clean chit for Gehlot

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 27, 2003

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Other States - Rajasthan

In election year, a clean chit for Gehlot

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR MARCH 26. The Congress leadership in Delhi has apparently learnt to appreciate the party-led Government in Rajasthan finally - or at least that is the impression it wants to give out in this election year. The party leadership, it appears, has also decided to silence critics of the Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, and project the good work carried out by his Government so that party could give a united fight to the BJP at the hustings.

The AICC (I) representatives who were here over the weekend went on record that "the Rajasthan Government has performed extremely well in past four years. The amount of work done in the State is more than anywhere else, including in other Congress-ruled States''.

The senior leaders even said that the Congress might repeat its 1998 performance in Rajasthan - which means another mandate with a three-fourths majority. The observations may sound too ambitious and look as if they have come too early but they point to a new determination in the party.

The AICC (I) general secretary in charge of Rajasthan, Ambika Soni, and the Congress Working Committee member, Ghulam Nabi Azad, were all praise for the development works carried by the Gehlot Government during the past four years and the "astute'' drought management.

Just a few days before - on March 17 - the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, while concluding her address at a public rally in Jhunjhunu district's Ardavata town, said: "We want to make this land of sacrifices and valour a model State for the country and the whole world. In this endeavour I am with you. The Rajasthan Government is working with limited resources. My heart goes out to the people who face adversities with such courage...''

Convincing, as charity, begins at home and the party has realised that unless the party men here are not convinced themselves, they will not be able to impress upon the voters on the good work done by the Government here.

Interestingly, barely two months back, in the wake of the defeats in the three by-elections in Rajasthan, leaders from Delhi, led by Pranab Mukherjee and Ambika Soni were here to find out whether a change in leadership was needed or not.

The Congress leaders this time based their assessment on the Gehlot Government's performance during the one-to-one meetings they had with almost as many as 700 bloc and district level functionaries and 156 party MLAs over two days. The leadership could surely attribute their conviction to the "feedback'' they received from the grassroots level workers.

The feedback they got, in return, from the leadership was to bury the hatchet and get ready to fight the enemy.

Before leaving for Delhi, Ms Soni and Mr. Azad even blamed the media, especially the electronic media, for projecting a "wrong'' image of the Rajasthan Government.

"The MLAs and bloc presidents, almost all of them briefed us on the accomplishments of the Government in the past four years. Considering the fact that all these were drought years in Rajasthan, the Government did a tremendous job,'' Mr. Azad certified.

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