BJP had won the 2018 elections in Mewar region but did not get power.
The election turmoil in the politics of Rajasthan is at its peak and only a few days are left for voting for the new assembly. Both the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are trying to woo voters. Politically, Rajasthan can be divided into 5 regions and Mewar region is very important in it. Mewar, which has a special identity for its historicity, fascinates everyone with its grand forts, palaces and monuments. The electoral history here says that only the one who wins here gets power. However, this tradition was broken in 2018 as BJP won the Mewar region but power went to Congress.
If we look at Mewar Vagad region, there are a total of 28 seats here. This region includes the districts of Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Banswara, Pratapgarh and Dungarpur. In this, Udaipur has maximum 8 seats while Chittorgarh and Banswara districts have 5 seats each, Dungarpur and Rajsamand districts have 4 seats each while 2 seats of Pratapgarh district also fall in this region. Out of these 28 seats, 5 seats each in Udaipur and Banswara, 4 seats in Dungarpur, 2 seats in Pratapgarh are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and one seat in Chittorgarh district is reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC).
Mewar region dominates the CM post
Mewar gets a separate identity in the country because of warriors like Rana Sanga and Maharana Pratap. Even in the present times, this region has a special identity in itself because 4 Chief Ministers of Rajasthan have emerged from here. As Chief Minister, Mewar region has dominated the state for the longest time. Mohan Lal Sukhadia, who belonged to Udaipur, remained on the post of Chief Minister for the longest period of about 17 years. He became Chief Minister 4 times. After Sukhadiya, Haridev Joshi was the second CM from this region.
Haridev Joshi became the Chief Minister of Rajasthan thrice and remained on this post for about 7 years in total. Shivcharan Mathur was the third leader from Mewar region to become the Chief Minister. He became Chief Minister twice and remained in this post for 5 years. Hiralal Devpura was the fourth Chief Minister to become CM from here. However, his tenure lasted only for 16 days. He became CM on 23 February 1985 and stepped down from the post just 16 days later on 10 March 1985. The last Chief Minister from Mewar region was from Devpura, about 38 years ago. This region has been waiting for its new Chief Minister for 4 decades.
What do the results of the last 4 elections say?
Not only the Chief Minister became from Mewar region. Many other veteran leaders of this region got a chance to become ministers. Ramlal Jat, Udaylal Anjana and Mahendrajit Singh Malviya, associated with Mewar, have been ministers in the government of Ashok Gehlot. Other Congress stalwarts associated with this place also include Girija Vyas and Raghubir Singh Meena. Girija Vyas has also been a minister at the Centre. Similarly, in the previous BJP government, Gulab Chand Kataria was the Home Minister of the state while Nand Lal Meena got the post of minister. Gulab Chand Kataria has now been made the Governor of Assam.
Why Mewar region is important in the politics of Rajasthan can be gauged from the fact that the winning party forms the government from here. If we look at the statistics of the last 4 elections, except 2018, in the remaining 3 elections only the party that won Mewar has got the key to power.
Congress had formed the government despite getting less seats.
In the elections held in Rajasthan before delimitation in 2003, BJP had won 18 out of 25 seats while Congress had won 5 seats. Then BJP government was formed here. Similarly, after delimitation, Congress won in Mewar in 2008 elections. Then it won 19 out of 28 seats while BJP won 7 seats. This time the government was formed by Congress.
If we talk about the results of 2013 in the election data, BJP had captured 25 out of 28 seats, while Congress was limited to only 2 seats. BJP was successful in forming the government here under the leadership of Vasundhara Raje. Although in 2018 also BJP had won here but then it was not successful in forming the government. Out of 28, BJP had won 15 seats while Congress had won 10 seats, improving from 2 seats won in 2013. But Congress formed the government and the sequence of government formation of the party that had conquered Mewar was broken.
What does the caste factor of Mewar say?
The caste factor holds a very important place in Mewar region, which is considered important from political point of view. If we look at the caste equation here, out of 28 seats in Mewar, 17 seats are reserved out of which 16 seats are for Scheduled Tribes alone. There are many tribal dominated areas here and people of different castes live in the remaining places. Apart from the Rajput community, voters from Brahmins, Gurjars, Maheshwari, Jats as well as Scheduled Castes live in this area.
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To achieve victory in Mewar, BJP has tried to associate itself with Maharana Pratap. The party has fielded Vishwaraj Singh, a descendant of Maharana Pratap. The party has given him ticket from Nathdwara seat. He has joined BJP only a few days ago. Before this, Vishvaraj’s father Mahendra Singh Mewar contested Chittorgarh Lok Sabha elections (1989) on BJP ticket and was elected MP. He is also the grandson of Bhagwat Singh, the last Maharana of Mewar princely state. Father Mahendra later joined Congress, but he did not win there.
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Congress leader and assembly speaker Dr CP Joshi is the party’s candidate for Nathdwara seat. Joshi was a contender for the post of Chief Minister in the 2008 elections, but he lost the election by a margin of 1 vote.
‘Father’ increased tension between BJP-Congress
Being a tribal dominated area, issues related to tribals are always in discussion. Both BJP and Congress parties try to win the votes of tribals. However, apart from these two national parties, before the 2018 elections, the political tribal organization Bharatiya Tribal Party entered here from Gujarat and captured 2 ST reserved seats in Dungarpur district. However, later there was a split in this party and both the MLAs (Ramprasad and Rajkumar Rot) together formed a new organization BAP i.e. Bharatiya Adivasi Party (BAP). There is uneasiness in both BJP and Congress parties due to the entry of Bharatiya Adivasi Party into the fray because this party can spoil their equation.
Now it remains to be seen whether the 2018 result will be repeated again in Mewar region, which is considered historically and politically important, or whether the winner here comes to power. There may be uneasiness in both the parties due to the entry of Bharatiya Adivasi Party, but the election here is going to be thorny. Everyone is waiting for the results.
Source: www.tv9hindi.com”