While they may not have been in a position to win the election on their own, they definitely had either the political clout or the backing of the community to thwart the BJP’s win. However, the party has been successful in making a number of them withdraw from the fray, thus ensuring a BJP win.
The man who is believed to be working behind the scenes, even making day trips and reaching out through phones is BJP’s troubleshooter Amit Shah.
The biggest achievement was when the BJP was able to convince rebel and former minister Rajpal Singh Shekhawat to withdraw his nomination after he filed as an Independent from the Jhotwara constituency on the outskirts of Rajasthan. The BJP fielded Jaipur Rural MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from the seat which led to him being confronted with angry supporters of Shekhawat holding back flags.
In one incident, Shekhawat’s supporters raised slogans demanding the removal of the “parachute” candidate. What embarrassed the party was when the video of the protest went viral on social media. But what concerned the party more was that both Shekhawat and Rathore were from the Rajput community and there was a real chance of votes getting split, making way for the Congress candidate.
However, Shekhawat withdrew his candidature at the eleventh hour after a phone call from the man who is often dubbed BJP’s ‘Chanakya’. The call did the trick and he came out saying, “It is more important to form the BJP government in the state”. Now, BJP has only one worry — to defeat NSUI state president Abhishek Chaudhary who is fighting from Jhotwara on a Congress ticket.
While Shekhawat’s withdrawal may have grabbed eyeballs, another Independent withdrew from the fray. Earlier, Vishnu Pratap had filed his nomination from Jaipur’s Vidhyadhar Nagar. Pratap has not just withdrawn his nomination now but joined the Bharatiya Janata Party along with his supporters with a pledge to make BJP’s candidate from the seat, Diya Kumari, win. In fact, along with him, key Rajput leader Rajendra Singh Sisodia also joined the saffron fold.
Another BJP rebel, Girdhari Tiwari, has withdrawn from Bharatpur constituency bordering Uttar Pradesh. After withdrawing his nomination, Tiwari said he had done it at the “order of the central leadership”. Earlier, he even refused to meet state BJP leaders who wanted to “make him understand”. However, things changed swiftly after the intervention of 6A, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg.
Another rebel Ranjit Sodala added to the BJP’s worries when he wanted to go against the party decision and contest from the Civil Lines assembly constituency that falls under Jaipur. What made it even trickier for the BJP was that he also doubled as the state president of Shri Akhil Ravna Rajput Seva Sansthan. At a time when the BJP is trying to woo Rajputs, rebels like Sodala and Shekawat could be counterproductive for the party. However, he too has withdrawn his nomination, News18 has learnt. BJP has fielded Gopal Sharma — a Brahmin — from this urban seat. Sources suggest “a senior BJP leader” reached out to Sodala through a state functionary whom Sodala “respects a lot”.
The BJP faced huge uncertainty in the Ajmer North seat when dissident Surendra Singh Shekhawat filed his nomination as an Independent. As in Jothwara and Civil Lines, the rebel here was also a Rajput.
“Strict disciplinary action could be counter-productive,” said a Rajput leader of the party who is pushing BJP’s community outreach in the Mewar region.
Ajmer North has been a BJP bastion for the past 20 years. Vasudev Devnani has won the last four elections in a row and trusting his track record, the BJP has fielded him this time as well. “Devnani would have won regardless of the rebels. But there was more than one rebel and at the local level, they enjoy goodwill among BJP voters,” added the BJP leader quoted earlier.
Now both have withdrawn. Again, the modus operandi remained the same. “Calls by a senior BJP functionary were made via a state functionary’s phone where party’s ‘izzat’ was stressed upon,” learns News18.
That is not all. In Sumerpur, Madan Rathore, a former MLA from the seat, filed his nomination as an Independent. He has also been a deputy chief whip of the Rajasthan Assembly between 2013 and 2018. On November 6, he held a rally for his candidature as an Independent. Even his election posters had an overwhelming dash of saffron, making it virtually indistinguishable from those of the BJP. Now, much to BJP’s relief, he too has withdrawn his candidature.
The list of rebel withdrawals at the eleventh hour is rather long and includes KK Bishnoi from Sadulshahar, Sawan Kumar from Hanumangarh, Alka Sharma from Laxmangarh, Madan Mohan Singhal from Kaman, Vishnu Singhal from Bari, Sunita Saina from Bandikui, Ramavatar Meena from Bamanwas, Manisha Sharma from Ladnun, Manohar Singh from Degana, Mahant Bal Bharti from Jaisalmer.
While no party leader would come on record, the one name that repeatedly pops up as BJP’s rebel troubleshooter is that of Amit Shah — the man who is credited with making the party the election machine that it is today.
Recently, in a whirlwind tour through Jabalpur, Bhopal, and Gwalior, Shah met dissidents in Madhya Pradesh as well and thus contained the rebel situation which blew up in Rajasthan. But now, it seems all it took was that BJP’s ‘Chanakya’ pick up his phone and ensure Rajasthan’s rebel crisis is doused before it is too late.