Sachin Pilot at a rally Wednesday. (Express photo by Rohit Jain Paras) Sachin Pilot at a rally Wednesday. (Express photo by Rohit Jain Paras)

Faced with the BJP’s rhetoric on national security, the Congress in Rajasthan is trying to change the poll narrative by talking about communal harmony, farmers’ issues, unemployment and the BJP “going back on its promises”.

A campaign trail of Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief Sachin Pilot shows how, at rally after rally, he is focusing on propagating a message of love and harmony between “36 quam (communities)”.

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At a rally in Patan, Sikar, on Wednesday for party candidate Subhash Maharia, district Congress president P S Jat says, “They talk of Indira Gandhi, I’ll tell you what she did,” and goes on to list her achievements — abolition of privy-purse, nationalisation of banks, the first nuclear test in 1974 and the division of Pakistan. “And now they indulge in propaganda after a small (surgical) strike,” he says.

Taking the microphone, Pilot says, “A situation of confrontation has been created in the society. There is talk of emotional issues to mislead the people. What does Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister (Yogi Adityanath) talk about in his speeches? Ali and Bajrangbali. You have to realise the seriousness of these elections. Modi sahib was in Rajasthan and he will not tell why a gas cylinder sells for Rs 1,000. He will talk of Hindu Muslim, mandir masjid, and Hindustan Pakistan because he has now understood that farmers are committing suicide, there is a downturn in every economic sector, youths are not getting employment… You have to use your vote wisely.”

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“This is a land of the brave. People of all castes and communities have lived with love and harmony. Hence, we are working against the politics of BJP leaders, who are trying to create a conflict between people,” he adds.

In his election rallies in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken at length on the armed forces, even bringing up 1998 nuclear tests in Pokhran under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, apart from the Pulwama attack, 26/11 Mumbai attack, the cross border airstrikes, the Sri Lanka attacks, and more recently, Masood Azhar. A few days ago, BJP president Amit Shah said in Jalore that this election is “to take revenge for the martyrs.”

“People will vote on issues that matter to them in daily life. I think this sort of rhetoric will not cut any ice,” Pilot tells The Indian Express, adding, “when the SC and EC have clearly said that religion and armed forces must not be a part of the political narrative then people in high position must take cognisance and I think he and the government are answerable on the issue of development.”

Explained Rafale not loud enough, Cong changes pitch The Congress in Rajasthan seems to be out of options to effectively counter the BJP rhetoric around national security. The Congress’s attempts to dictate the narrative with the Rafale row and the NYAY scheme do not seem to have worked as effectively as it would have liked. Hence, it is left with little choice than to repeat its rhetoric on the need to fight BJP’s “divisive politics”.

At the second rally of the day in Khetri, Jhunjhunu, Pilot says, “We are fighting elections against people who are trying to destroy the environment of debate, of disagreeing with each other. No one is ready to discuss development. The BJP candidates who are contesting don’t talk of water, school, college, electricity or hospital. Instead, they talk of Hindu-Muslim and mandir-masjid.”

“People are tired of an environment of violence, bitterness, hatred, toxicity and confrontation, elections should be conducted around love, brotherhood, development and employment,” he says.

At the third rally in Mahuwa in Dausa, once a Pilot family stronghold, local Congress MLA Murari Lal talks of a “harmonious time” when all castes used to live in harmony with the Pilot family at the helm. He adds that then there was a “grahan (eclipse)” and the castes were divided.

Addressing his last rally of the day here, Pilot says, “Ever since we gained consciousness, we have understood that the nation is one and we have to rise above caste, religion and language and the nation’s farmers and the youth have to unite for the nation to progress.”

The remaining 12 seats in Rajasthan will vote in the fifth phase on May 6.

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