Bhilwara’s political landscape remains fluid; both Cong, BJP face uncertainties
Of the seven constituencies in Bhilwara-Asind, Bhilwara, Jahazpur, Mandal, Mandalgarh, Sahada and Shahpura-BJP secured victories in five in the 2018 assembly polls while Congress bagged two (Mandal and Sahara). Congress also retained Sahada in the 2021 by-polls after its MLA Kailash Trivedi died of post-Covid complications. His wife, Gayatri Devi, got elected in the by-poll.
Asind, Bhilwara and Shahpura constituencies are considered BJP strongholds, having brought the party consistent victories. BJP has maintained a winning streak in Bhilwara since 2003, with Congress briefly breaking it in 1998. In Shahpura, a seat reserved for SCs, BJP’s Kailash Chandra Meghwal won in 2013 and 2018. A former assembly Speaker, the 89-year-old Meghwal was recently suspended from BJP. Mandal constituency has witnessed a seesaw battle, with both BJP and Congress claiming victory alternately in the last six elections.
The upcoming elections on November 25 seem to have posed new complexities for BJP. There is uncertainty in the BJP stronghold of Shahpura following the suspension of party veteran Kailash Chandra Meghwal due to his tussle with Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, 69. The party’s prospects in the district will largely depend on senior Meghwal’s political choices, which are still unclear, say observers.
With Shahpura now a separate district, Congress leaders hope BJP’s dominance would weaken there. On the ground, however, opinions about the electoral impact of the new district are divided. The outcome will depend on sitting MLA Meghwal’s next move because his camaraderie with CM Ashok Gehlot remains a topic of keen interest here.
Cabinet minister Ram Lal Jat is a key face of Congress in the district. After suffering defeat in Asind seat in the 2013 polls, he shifted to Mandal constituency and won in the 2018 polls. In the same polls, a significant portion of the Gujjar community had shifted support to Congress, hoping that Sachin Pilot would be the chief minister. With their hopes shattered, the community appears to have changed its mind this time, making it seem tougher for Congress.
Durgesh Sharma of Congress, a former district vice-president of the party, is optimistic that Gehlot’s popular schemes and the internal factions in BJP, such as the one unfolding in Shahpura, will upend the trends in Bhilwara district. “We will secure most of the seven seats here,” he said.
Several incidents of communal tension that took place in the district in the past five years have heightened Congress’s challenges. In May 2022, mobile internet services were suspended following protests triggered by the murder of a 20-year-old youth, Adarsh Tapadiya. In November 2022, Ibrahim Pathan, 34, was shot dead in what police suspected was a revenge attack linked to Tapadia’s murder.
The latest incident that caused a major stir in Bhilwara occurred in July and August, when clashes took place following a complaint by a Class 8 girl and her parents that two students from the minority community mixed “human urine” in her water bottle at school. A slip with ‘I Love you’ scrawled on it was also found in her bag in Luhariya village of Mandal constituency. These incidents have created deep divisions, prompting both BJP and Congress to accusing each other of causing trouble.
The sluggish pace of development in the area has also led to growing discontent. Bhilwara’s prosperous areas with wide roads and large properties sit in sharp contrast with the rural parts of the district, where people complain of lack of job opportunities and inaccessible leaders.
The BJP MLA from Mandalgarh, Gopal Lal Sharma, pointed out that former Congress CM Shiv Charan Mathur was from Bhilwara, but unlike other cities that helped CMs rise to power, Bhilwara remains a neglected district. “People are not blind to these issues. We can all see the rapid spread of the mafia in land, drugs and mining across the district,” he said.
The influence of mining mafias continues to hit the district’s well-being. Sharma claimed that illegal mining has been shielded by Congress leaders, a charge the ruling party denied.
