Rajasthan
Rajasthan election 2023: Splendid heritage, cement powerhouse, yet lack of growth engenders questions in Chittorgarh
JAIPUR: With assembly elections around the corner, the 7th-century town of Chittorgarh, formerly the heart of the Mewar kingdom, is asking why its magnificent heritage does not translate into growth in tourism comparable to Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaipur.
Residents of Chittorgarh, the town that houses the magnificent Chittorgarh Fort, the largest fort in Asia, say whatever development the town has seen so far has been “accidental” rather than deliberate, and they refuse to give credit for it to the elected representatives. As the November 25 polls draw near, the issue of ‘sthaniyavad’ (local resident/son of the soil) in selection of candidates is finding traction in all the five constituencies in the district.
“We see in our town’s squares and other public sites banners and posters boasting of projects from other cities in the state such as the riverfront in Kota or the restoration of heritage structures in Jodhpur, and it hurts,” said Nagendra Singh, a local poet and businessman, asserting that elected representatives have failed to rebuild Chittorgarh’s lost glory.
The sense of injustice people here feel is mirrored in their public and social media discourses, in which they wonder why a town with perennial rivers like Gambhiri and Berach does not have a waterfront project like in Kota, Jaipur and Ajmer.
Chittorgarh residents fail to understand why the town with a rich history is yet to be included in any tourist-pilgrimage-heritage circuit. They also ask why the cement industries’ dividends hardly reach the locals’ doorsteps. The Gambhiri and Berach rivers divide Chittorgarh into three unequal parts—one between Gambhiri and the Chittor Fort, which is a UNESCO site, and the second between the two rivers in the old city area. The third part is the outer town lying—and expanding—beyond the Berach. Encroachment inside the fort continues to keep its passages cramped. Periodic reports alerting about legal and illegal mining in the fort’s vicinity weakening the monument keeps the people indignant.
In the five assembly segments in the district—Chittorgarh, Badi Sadri, Begun, Kapasan, and Nimbahera— both Congress and BJP are beset with infighting.
Chandrabhan Singh Aakhya, a two-term BJP MLA from the Chittorgarh seat, enjoys the party’s traditional votes. Reports that BJP state president and Chittorgarh MP CP Joshi, a local, could replace Aakhya has set tongues wagging here. The Aakhya-Joshi feud is talked about much. There are also rumours about Jaipur’s Vidyadhar Nagar MLA Narpat Singh Rajvi being considered by BJP as the Chittorgarh candidate. These possibilities have reignited the ‘local versus outsider’ discussion in BJP. Congress is likely to field its local ex-MLA Surendra Jadawat, a close aide of CM Ashok Gehlot’s, from here. He lost the polls in 2013 and 2018.
In Kapasan, a seat reserved for SCs, the entry of RLP promises a triangular contest again. The constituency has a good number of Jat voters. In 2018, RLP’s Shanti Lal Dhobi received 27,400 votes, swaying the Jat voters, and causing the victory for BJP’s Arjun Lal Jingar.
Udailal Anjana of Congress, the state’s richest candidate and currently a minister, represents Nimbahera constituency, which is India’s cement powerhouse. Ex-MLA Srichand Kriplani, a Vasundhara Raje loyalist, is seeking a BJP ticket for the seat again.
In Begun, the resurfacing of an old video purportedly showing the sitting Congress MLA, Rajendra Singh Bidhuri, kicking a farmer’s turban has sparked a debate within and outside the party.
Residents of Chittorgarh, the town that houses the magnificent Chittorgarh Fort, the largest fort in Asia, say whatever development the town has seen so far has been “accidental” rather than deliberate, and they refuse to give credit for it to the elected representatives. As the November 25 polls draw near, the issue of ‘sthaniyavad’ (local resident/son of the soil) in selection of candidates is finding traction in all the five constituencies in the district.
“We see in our town’s squares and other public sites banners and posters boasting of projects from other cities in the state such as the riverfront in Kota or the restoration of heritage structures in Jodhpur, and it hurts,” said Nagendra Singh, a local poet and businessman, asserting that elected representatives have failed to rebuild Chittorgarh’s lost glory.
The sense of injustice people here feel is mirrored in their public and social media discourses, in which they wonder why a town with perennial rivers like Gambhiri and Berach does not have a waterfront project like in Kota, Jaipur and Ajmer.
Chittorgarh residents fail to understand why the town with a rich history is yet to be included in any tourist-pilgrimage-heritage circuit. They also ask why the cement industries’ dividends hardly reach the locals’ doorsteps. The Gambhiri and Berach rivers divide Chittorgarh into three unequal parts—one between Gambhiri and the Chittor Fort, which is a UNESCO site, and the second between the two rivers in the old city area. The third part is the outer town lying—and expanding—beyond the Berach. Encroachment inside the fort continues to keep its passages cramped. Periodic reports alerting about legal and illegal mining in the fort’s vicinity weakening the monument keeps the people indignant.
In the five assembly segments in the district—Chittorgarh, Badi Sadri, Begun, Kapasan, and Nimbahera— both Congress and BJP are beset with infighting.
Chandrabhan Singh Aakhya, a two-term BJP MLA from the Chittorgarh seat, enjoys the party’s traditional votes. Reports that BJP state president and Chittorgarh MP CP Joshi, a local, could replace Aakhya has set tongues wagging here. The Aakhya-Joshi feud is talked about much. There are also rumours about Jaipur’s Vidyadhar Nagar MLA Narpat Singh Rajvi being considered by BJP as the Chittorgarh candidate. These possibilities have reignited the ‘local versus outsider’ discussion in BJP. Congress is likely to field its local ex-MLA Surendra Jadawat, a close aide of CM Ashok Gehlot’s, from here. He lost the polls in 2013 and 2018.
In Kapasan, a seat reserved for SCs, the entry of RLP promises a triangular contest again. The constituency has a good number of Jat voters. In 2018, RLP’s Shanti Lal Dhobi received 27,400 votes, swaying the Jat voters, and causing the victory for BJP’s Arjun Lal Jingar.
Udailal Anjana of Congress, the state’s richest candidate and currently a minister, represents Nimbahera constituency, which is India’s cement powerhouse. Ex-MLA Srichand Kriplani, a Vasundhara Raje loyalist, is seeking a BJP ticket for the seat again.
In Begun, the resurfacing of an old video purportedly showing the sitting Congress MLA, Rajendra Singh Bidhuri, kicking a farmer’s turban has sparked a debate within and outside the party.
