New Delhi: Churu’s two-term MP Rahul Kaswan is coming out with no-holds barred statements, ranging from emotional messages to oblique suggestions of switching allegiance, after the BJP denied him another shot at the hustings this time.
When the first list of 15 Lok Sabha candidates from Rajasthan were out Saturday, Kaswan and his supporters found out that the BJP has fielded paralympic javelin thrower Devendra Jhajhariya from Churu.
While eight MPs from Rajasthan were renominated, Kaswan and four others — Devji Patel (Jalore-Sirohi), Ranjeeta Koli (Bharatpur) and Arjunlal Meena (Udaipur), and Kanakmal Katara (Banswara) were dropped.
The BJP had won all the 25 Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan in 2014 and 2019.
After the first list was announced, Kaswan publicly asked the BJP central leadership on Monday whether he was denied a poll ticket for failing to be honest, hard-working, dedicated or for being tainted.
आखिर मेरा गुनाह क्या था…?
क्या मैं ईमानदार नहीं था ?
क्या मैं मेहनती नहीं था ?
क्या मैं निष्ठावान नहीं था ?
क्या मैं दागदार था ?
क्या मैंने चूरू लोकसभा में काम करवाने में कोई कमी छोड़ दी थी ?मा. प्रधानमंत्री जी की सभी योजनाओं के क्रियान्वयन में, मैं सबसे आगे था।
ओर क्या…
— Rahul Kaswan (@RahulKaswanMP) March 4, 2024
A day before, the Jat MP had put out another tweet in which he directly reached out to the people of Churu, saying that with their “trust and support”, he would keep climbing new heights.
राम-राम मेेरे चूरू लोकसभा परिवार!
लेकर विश्वास-पाकर आपका साथ, देकर हर संकट को मात,
ध्येय मार्ग पर बढ़ते जाएंगे, उत्थानों के शिखर चढ़ते जाएंगे।आप सभी संयम रखें। आगामी कुछ दिन बाद आपके बीच उपस्थित रहूंगा, जिसकी सूचना आपको दे दी जाएगी।
— Rahul Kaswan (@RahulKaswanMP) March 3, 2024
A central BJP leader confirmed that Kaswan was dropped for his role in BJP senior leader Rajendra Rathore’s electoral debacle at Taranagar in the Rajasthan polls.
“Kaswan’s ticket denial is not linked to non-performance or anti-incumbency, but it was linked to his involvement in defeating former leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore from Churu. After Rathore complained to the senior leadership, it took cognisance of anti-party activities and he was denied ticket,” the BJP insider said.
But it was not the Churu MP alone who came out against the BJP leadership. Two-time former MP Jaswant Bishnoi, too, has come out with a series of cryptic tweets after he found himself out of contention for the election.
“I have decided that now I will write a post after the announcement of elections; after that I will not write any kind of post in future (sic),” he tweeted Sunday.
There has been a palpable discontent among one section of the BJP leaders regarding the poll nominations. In Delhi, former Union minister Harsh Vardhan announced that he was quitting from politics. The BJP veteran further said that he would be returning to medical profession.
Similarly, Bhopal MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who has been denied poll ticket, has now taken up campaign against liquor in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.
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Churu, a fight of two families
Taranagar falls under the Churu Lok Sabha constituency. Rathore, a seven-time Rajput MLA, had lost to Congress’s Narendra Budania in 2023.
Rathore, who had blamed ‘Jaichands and Vibhishanas’ (the Hindi equivalent of Quislings) for his defeat, and Kaswan come from two rival families in Churu district. Adding fuel to the fire is that they are from two communities with a well-known political rivalry in Rajasthan.
In the assembly election, Rathore fielded Harlal Saharan from Churu anticipating that he would transfer Jat votes to him. But his game plan was upended by Kaswam as the poll narrative became one of Jat versus Rajput rivalry.
Kaswan’s father Ram Singh Kaswan was a four-time MP from Churu. Ram Singh has to his credit defeating Congress veteran and former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jhakhar in Churu in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Similarly, his mother Kamla Kaswan served as MLA from Sadulpur constituency in Churu district.
“I have sought time from the party president to know what was my fault and why the party denied me the ticket. After that, my people will decide what should be my path. It’s my people who will decide (my next step); only after that I will decide my next course (of action). Our family has been in politics for the last 40 years,” Kaswan told ThePrint.
Another senior BJP functionary explained that there were several factors behind choosing candidates for the electoral battle.
“The party decides tickets on several parameters, but winnability is the most important (parameter). In some cases, despite good reports, the candidates were changed to bring in new faces as the party will have to accommodate aspirations of other workers as well. The party has expanded at such a level that it can’t ignore their aspirations,” the second BJP functionary told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, the disquiet over poll nominations reared its head in Kerala as well where the BJP is trying hard to make inroads. Veteran leader P.C.George came out openly against Anil Antony after the latter was made the BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta.
The BJP brass took note of the matter and prodded Anil Antony to reach out to George for calming down nerves and for seeking his blessing. On Monday, the BJP candidate met George who is said to have promised him to secure support in the election.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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