Sawai Madhopur: Because this district has never given two terms to the same candidate, it appears to be a lost seat for the Congress that can ill-afford to lose even one constituency. The Congress workers in the district are a disillusioned lot and feel that if their party loses it may be a good thing, because next time around there will be a change of candidate, a better one. That is how absurd the situation is.
Ashok Gehlot has made many choices that will bring defeat, this despite very competent and good optional candidates in those constituencies. Often, this inability to discard known corrupt leaders and deny them a ticket has an anti-party effect even where the party may have won. It is that archaic syndrome of Rajput vs Jat instead of good man vs inferior. The Congress Party has brought itself back into a 50/50 situation.
There is a stunning game park here but the harassment of the forest department is unprecedented for any and every visitor except for government functionaries who break every rule in the book. Instead of managing the forest, they spend their time creating incomprehensible obstacles for tourism which means killing valuable revenue for the state. Even the staunchest of internationally recognised environmentalists and researchers find the attitude and the enforcement of the forest department of this state reprehensible.
For a state so rich in treasures ranging from man-made edifices, to natural environment to skills and a great music tradition, it is criminal to deny the people here growth and development in the service sector. There is no honest and intelligent person in the service here who understands this and who is willing to do something about it. Rude, ill-mannered and insecure about their personal capabilities, they bring sheer embarrassment to the state and country. By spouting fake ?Gandhism?, the chief minister consoles himself but alas he has lost so much that could have been his had he opened his mind to what he knows nothing about.
His often corrupt administration is spending its time in the district grabbing private property of people, cars and vehicles, at the height of the tourist season, for electioneering. Drivers of such vehicles find their licences impounded arbitrarily. Visitors are staggered by such acts. I thought that it was only during an emergency, or in a dictatorship, that private property could be assaulted. The manner in which tourists are treated in this state leaves much to be desired and, as an Indian, one wants to bury one?s head in the ground when one sees what honest, paying customers are being put through.
No decent person can believe the crass high-handedness when they see it for real. This is the height of the tourist season. Potentially a great year. The entire country, rich and poor, rural and urban knows that tourism can generate huge resources. It can generate employment, something our rulers promise but never deliver. Why are our administrators so dumb?
When people say that X or Y chief minister has done ?some good work?, I am always amazed because it is their mandate and responsibility to do so. Why are they there otherwise? Are they there to do bad work or to do nothing at all? The Congress Party committees, members of which had been to various constituencies, fought against many of the third-rate candidates, but the ultimate decision was left to the CM, the man who has to lead the party to either victory or defeat. He gave some people tickets for the second time on silly premises and there is no question those people will lose. Is this his way of getting rid of them?
In Rajasthan, four weeks ago the BJP were in a winning situation, two weeks ago it was believed that the Congress would win, but after the Congress released their list of candidates they, the voters, are talking of a hung assembly. The BJP is no better. Instead of giving their chief ministerial candidate full and complete backing, they are breaking her ranks, running scared that if she pulls off a victory, she will be around for a long time.