CPI(M) Confident of Breaking Into Rajasthan Assembly

The impact of climate change and human impact on the fast-drying aquifers is more visible in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan which comprises Churu, Jhunjhunu and Sikar districts. Elections in majority of the Assembly segments in this region are dominated by “water” – as an issue that transects and gets integrated with many other issues of the peasantry which includes electricity, debt waiver etc. Not to undermine other important national and state issues that includes employment, price rise, corruption etc., that are also debated extensively.

Desertification is amply visible in the region. Every year, large tracts of land are abandoned and eventually turn into sandy fields. Houses in the villages, and these are very big houses, are in a dilapidated condition as people moved to their fields called ‘Dhaani’ for agricultural operations. Now even Dhaani’s are ruined for paucity of water. A serious crisis is engulfing the entire region.

Amra Ram, the CPI(M) candidate, while explaining the reason for water being the most important issue of his constituency (Datta Ramgarh) in Sikar district said that in the past three decades, water has completely dried up in some parts of his constituency. He said this has happened because of excessive extraction of groundwater for agricultural purposes and now even at 500 feet below ground level, there is no water. The natural recharge of the aquifers is very slow and the region is facing one of its worst crisis. While travelling in the constituency, one can see large tracts of lands lying vacant. Farmers have been forced to harvest just one kharif crop during the monsoon season. They cannot sow rabi crop because water is not available.

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In one of the villages, Datta, with a population of 25,000, we were shocked to note that the state was absent from the service of water utility. No household has a water connection. Water  is supplied through private tankers and a family is forced to buy a tanker containing 5,000 litres of water for Rs 500. Three such tankers suffice for a month (if the family rears cattle, then usage rises threefold).

For a year, the poor are forced to pay Rs 18,000. This is criminal governance. Tanka Ram a peanut hawker, on being asked why he would vote for Amra Ram, said that when the latter was an MLA, a scheme was installed in the village to provide water. “If he wins, we are hopeful we will get water through taps and will be able to get rid of the tanker lobby,” he said.

Amra Ram has been able to strike a chord with the people as he has focussed on water and development of roads. The people know him because he has led various movements, such as against the hike in electricity charges, for debt waiver and for social harmony. Congress leader Buniyad Ali, while addressing a meeting of the Congress district committee in Sikar, said, “Had Amra Ram and his party not intervened forcefully during the riots initiated by RSS, dead bodies would have been all around.”

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The day for both Amra Ram and Pema Ram, the CPI(M) candidate from Dhod, begins early. Mass contact meetings are held in villages from 10 a.m. By the time the day ends, nearly 15 such meetings are addressed. In these interactions, large number of village people welcome with garlands and tie traditional turban to their beloved leaders.  The presence of people, including a large number of women, ranges from 50 to 500. Some of the meetings even turn out to be interactive where people share their problems.

Both Datta Ramgarh and Dhod are predominantly rural constituencies. There is just one statutory town in each of the constituencies. These two constituencies have strong presence of the the Kisan Sabha and Students’ Federation of India. In Datta Ramgarh, there are 276 polling booths whereas in Dhod there are 230. All these booths are being managed this time, said Harful Singh a kisan. Confident of victory, Harful said “We will win because people know that we have stood by them all these five years despite the fact that we lost last time.” An observer in Sikar there was rebellion in the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress camps in Datta Ramgarh constituency, hence the CPI(M) has a “fair chance” of winning.

While visiting Dhod, a constituency reserved for the Scheduled caste population, support for Pema Ram was evident in the reception accorded to him by the crowds. A strange phenomenon was the fund collection in almost all the meetings held in this constituency. A sum of Rs 10,000 to Rs 55,000 was contributed to the election. This money was collected by the village people. Incidentally, Pema Ram is facing a millionaire in the poll contest, which has encouraged the people to contribute more to ensure that he does not lag behind in the campaign.

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Another interesting feature of the campaign witnessed was the harmony and unity of upper caste Hindus, Dalits and Muslims. In one of the mass contact programme meetings of Amra Ram, one saw upper caste Hindus, Dalits and Muslims seated on the same dais, which is nothing unusual but for the fact that the dais was created in the gallery of a temple of the village deity. Everyone seemed comfortable sharing the same space and speaking on issues that concerned them.

One was told that elections in Rajasthan are generally peaceful. The reason for this, Amra Ram said, was that the main agency to intimidate and terrorise the people during elections or even otherwise was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). And the RSS, despite the fact that the BJP has ruled Rajasthan several times, has not been able to really build the nexus of government administration and themselves. Hence, whenever they tried to use their onerous divisive tactics, they were pushed back by the democratic forces. It is said that because both the BJP chief ministers (Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Vasundhara Raje) were not from RSS, this nexus could not take roots.

The CPI(M) is contesting in 28 Assembly segments. The formidable ones where the party has been able to reach a critical mass of mobilisation to influence the elections include Khandela in Sikar, apart from Datta Ramgarh and Dhod, Anupgarh and Raisinghnagar in Ganganagar, Bhadra in Hanumangarh, Taranagar in Churu and Dungargarh in Bikaner.

To pep up the campaign, former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar is set to address a public meeting on December 5, said Vasudev, who is in-charge of Sikar region and is monitoring the election campaign.

Read more articles about Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018