WITH ELECTIONS ON THE HORIZON, RAJASTHAN WRESTLES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 NEW DELHI 000895 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/INS, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINR KDEM SOCI IN SUBJECT: WITH ELECTIONS ON THE HORIZON, RAJASTHAN WRESTLES WITH RAJE REF: A. 07 NEW DELHI 2070 ¶B. 07 NEW DELHI 2624 ¶C. 07 NEW DELHI 2636 Classified By: D/PolCouns Atul Keshap for reasons 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) Summary: On a March 11-14 trip to Rajasthan, Poloffs met journalists, politicians, and academicians to gauge the political and social pulse of the state before elections there in November 2008. Currently under the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is facing challenges of corruption, communal conflicts, internal party antagonism and anti-incumbency. To the BJP's benefit, the opposition Congress Party does not have its game together and is struggling with a leadership crisis. Another twist in the electoral equation is recent redistricting, which disturbed the existing caste combinations and forced some candidates to shop for new constituencies. The on-going Gujjar unrest, which started in 2007 over reservations (quotas) for employment and education positions, has died down, leaving the community fragmented, angry and feeling disenfranchised. One interlocutor predicted that community tensions were so high that the election could be marred with violence for the first time in state history. While the state is doing well in development and the roads are excellent, some areas we visited are struggling with severe electric and water shortages with no political or bureaucratic ear for their grievances. Rajasthan also has an extremely divisive affirmative action program. Rajasthan has to grapple with these problems if it expects to be the first Hindi cow-belt state to escape the problems that plague them all. End Summary. The Land of Rajputs and Jats -------------- ¶2. (U) Rajasthan is a border state with a population of approximately 56 million, according to the 2001 census. The state nestles against Pakistan to the west and northwest and is surrounded by Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Currently Rajasthan is governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the leadership of Chief Minister Vasundhara Scindia Raje. The state has a unicameral legislature with 200 assembly seats, of which the BJP has ¶120. In the 2004 national elections, of the 25 Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) seats, the BJP won 21 seats and 
the Congress Party took four. This year, Rajasthan goes back to the polls in November, making the state a hotbed of political activity. ¶3. (SBU) Elections in the past have been straight contests between the Congress Party and the BJP to decide who can win the Jat and Rajput communities votes. In an unprecedented move in 2003, both Jat and Rajput communities voted for the BJP in overwhelming numbers, sweeping them into a majority in the state. The Jat community, which traditionally voted with the Congress Party, had become disenchanted with the Party for not designating someone from their community as the Chief Minister during its previous tenure in office. Furthermore, immediately prior to the Rajasthan state election in 2003, the then BJP-led government in Delhi granted the Jat community Other Backward Caste (OBC) status, opening access to education and employment quotas for them and winning them over to the BJP vote bank. Raje's Regime -------------- ¶4. (C) Om Gaur, local Jodhpur Editor of the Hindi news daily Dainik Bhaskar, summed up Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's tenure as being good for development in the state but plagued by three issues which will plague her run in the upcoming elections. First and foremost, Gaur explained, the charges of corruption against her are "big" and part of the everyday chatter in the state. Second, caste turmoil and violence in NEW DELHI 00000895 002 OF 005 the state over Gujjar community demands to be included in the list of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) for access to employment and education benefits has marred her tenure. Gaur described Raje's ineffective handling of this situation, which allowed caste tensions to explode, as one of her "worst contributions" to the state. Third, Gaur noted that Raje will suffer from internal BJP haggling, which she has never had a firm grip over or been able to control. Finally, anti-incumbency will be Raje's and theBJP's biggest enemy in the upcoming election. BJP Infighting -------------- ¶5. (C) India Today Special Correspondent Rohit Parihar underscored Gaur's comments, saying though development has been good, it will not win her the election. He elaborated on the internal BJP conflicts. According to Parihar, BJP President Rajnath Singh is not fond of Raje and has been trying to minimize her influence in the party. In January, Singh shook up the state party leadership, removing Mahesh Sharma as BJP state President and replacing him with Om Mathur, former national BJP general secretary. Raje had developed a good relationship with Sharma and was not happy at his ouster. Not only did Singh elevate Mathur to be the party's state president, he also nominated him for a Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) seat. Parihar described this as a way for Singh to try to neutralize Raje's political power in the Rajasthan. ¶5. (C) Gaur characterized this infighting as a battle between seniors and juniors. In the seniors camp are Jaswant Singh, Rajnath Singh, and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat former Vice President of India and a former Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Shekhawat's son-in-law is currently serving as a minister in Raje's government and has aspirations of being Chief Minister. Raje is in the juniors camp and though she is supported by BJP leader and prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani and seems to be the solid leader of the state party, she could face an internal party battle to be Chief Minister in the future. Congress In Worse Shape -------------- ¶6. (C) According to interlocutors across the state, from Jodhpur to Jaipur, the blessing for the BJP is that the Congress Party is in a shambles in Rajasthan. Gaur noted that the only prominent Congress name in the state is former Congress Party Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who is no longer viewed as a strong leader. Former BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and current senior Rajput leader Lokendra Kalvi put it more severely, saying that the Congress Party is facing a serious leadership crisis in the state. Since the Congress Party will need to regain the Jat vote bank to stand a chance, Kalvi predicted that Gehlot will play behind the scenes in order for the party to court the Jat community vote. This will be an attempt to neutralize the past history of Jat resentment towards the Congress Party for selecting Gehlot in lieu of a Jat Chief Minister. However, in the event of a Congress Party win, Gehlot will be favored as the Chief Minister because there is a dearth of leadership in the party, according to him. In reality, Kalvi added, the Congress Party has nothing to offer the Rajput community or the Jat community. A Meena/Gujjar Battle Ground -------------- ¶7. (C) According to Kalvi, the June 2007 violence between the tribal Meena and Gujjar communities over employment and education quotas will play heavily in the upcoming elections (ref B & C). In fact, he fears this issue might give rise to violence for the first time ever during Rajasthan elections. The bitterness between the two communities is palpable and NEW DELHI 00000895 003 OF 005 has become vindictive. Kalvi described incidents where politically well-placed Meenas have stopped development projects from reaching Gujjar communities. In one instance, Meenas stopped water in a canal which passed through their area from flowing forward and reaching a Gujjar area. Gujjars, in retaliation, plugged the water at its source so it would not reach the Meenas either. Gujjars: Frustrated, Fractured and Defeated -------------- ¶8. (C) Deep in the Gujjar belt, a group of local leaders expressed frustration that the agitation to push for benefits for their community is dead. They explained that since the state commission tasked with providing a recommendation ruled against their inclusion in the SC/ST category, they have no further recourse. Not only have they lost this opportunity, they told Poloff, but they are no longer a cohesive community after this agitation. In the past, despite not getting preference in access to benefits, Gujjars used to leverage their disenfranchised status to get hospitals and school projects for their communities. Now they feel no one will sympathize with them. Kalvi sadly noted that Gujjars have marginalized themselves by causing such destruction to public property. The Gujjar leaders also lamented the loss of 26 lives to this agitation, and asked whether it was worth it. ¶9. (C) Currently, the Gujjar community is politically fractured. In the past, the community held a community meeting to determine who they would collectively vote for. Today, some Gujjars have joined the BSP, some joined Congress, and others remain independent. The one thing that unites them, however, is their opposition to the BJP. The local leaders firmly stated that no Gujjar would vote for the BJP. In fact, they colorfully described how no one from the BJP would be allowed to enter their towns, and threatened "they would run them out." ¶10. (C) The leaders appealed to Poloff to understand the need for their community's inclusion in the ST/SC category. They spoke about how their community is nomadic, poor and needs access to employment and education benefits. In contrast, they spoke about how well the Meena community is doing. They recounted that in one small town near Jaipur, Meenas constituted 12 Indian Police Services (IPS) officers and 25 Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers, compared to zero Gujjar IPS or IAS officers. Jodhpur Dainik Bhaskar's Editor Gaur echoed this statistic, saying that it is reflected across the entire state. The Gujjar leaders said they were getting education and starting to do better in society, but they needed assistance, more time, and help in the form of reservations to continue improving the wellbeing of their community. An Opening for the BSP? -------------- ¶11. (C) Given the level of communal strife, Rajasthan appears to be fertile ground for the Mayawati and the BSP to make a move there. The number of blue elephants (the BSP motto) spray-painted throughout the state might make one believe they have a strong presence. In reality, most interlocutors say Mayawati does not have much influence in the state. Currently, the BSP holds two seats in the state assembly. Jodhpur's Dainik Bhaskar's Editor Gaur proffered that the BSP will have a hard time in Rajasthan since the Dalit community is divided, unlike the community in Uttar Pradesh, where Mayawati has been successful. He additionally speculated that the BSP could have a similar effect in Rajasthan as in Gujarat, where it cut into the Congress Party's vote bank, damaging the Congress Party's chances in the state. Redistricting: Another Twist to Complicate Matters -------------- NEW DELHI 00000895 004 OF 005 ¶12. (C) According to journalist and politicians alike, redistricting is changing the face of Rajasthan politics and making the upcoming election more unpredictable. Redistricting, which is a nationwide initiative and is constitutionally mandated, is increasing urban representation in legislatures. For example, Jaipur, which used to be represented by five seats, will now be represented by nine. Kalvi speculated that this could benefit the BJP, since it is traditionally strong in urban areas. Redistricting has also changed the caste composition of constituencies. Politicians are now shopping for good caste combinations to ensure they can keep a seat in the assembly. Even Chief Minister Raje will shift her constituency to one with a higher density of Rajputs. Rajasthan's Challenges: Caste -------------- ¶13. (C) Jodhpur Jai Narayan Vyas Univeristy Dean Dr. Anand Mathur remarked that no political party has the guts to truly address the country's problems with reservations for underpriviledged sections of society. According to the Indian Constitution, reservations were only supposed to be in place for ten years after Independence. Now, she criticized, the quotas are de facto permanent because political parties pander to each social group as a potential vote bank. The demand for special set-asides appears to have reached new heights in Rajasthan, with almost every caste group demanding something. Raje promised the Gujjars some benefits during the last election campaign and may have to pay up, as she has not been able to deliver. Mathur added that politicians contribute to the broken system and communal strife that percolates from time to time in the country. Rajasthan's Challenges: Bijli and Pani -------------- ¶14. (C) According to interlocutors and poloff's observations, development is progressing quite well in Rajasthan. Due to new toll highways and government investment, the roads are excellent. However, like much of India, the state faces severe shortages of bijli and pani (electricity and water). In a small town near the Haryana border in the Gujjar belt, a group of local leaders told Poloff that communal issues are not the problem in the area. The problem is one of water and electricity. During the winter, they lose electricity for five to seven hours a day and do not have water except for one hour every five days. The group explained that things get worse in the summer months. When Poloff raised this with the sub-divisional magistrate, he gave evasive responses, saying that if the needs demonstrate a shortage, he would come up with a contingency plan, order water tankers to come around and address the problem. Poloff told him there clearly was a problem that would only get worse, but he refused to promise effective engagement. ¶15. (C) BJP MLA Vishnu Modi explained that part of the problem is that the sarpanch (head of the village council) is required by law to rotate every couple of years to encourage inclusion of disenfranchised social communities. Unfortunately, the counter-effect of this rotation is a lack of accountability in the presiding sarpanch. More often than not, according to Modi, the incumbent official views his/her time in office as an opportunity to get rich. Comment: An Unpredictable Election -------------- ¶16. (C) Though elections are just around the corner in Rajasthan, predicting an outcome is close to impossible. If traditional trends and factors hold true, anti-incumbency will win, the BJP will lose and the Congress Party will regain control of the state. However, given new redistricted constituencies, caste tumult, a leaderless Congress Party, and potentially stronger BSP, the state seems up for grabs. NEW DELHI 00000895 005 OF 005 It is possible that neither the BJP nor the Congress Party will win with a big majority and both Both parties will scurry for support of independents and other small groupings to forge a coalition government. Comment: Communal Conflicts Reflect a National Problem -------------- ¶17. (C) The notion that different communities felt cheated out of their piece of the pie was repeated over and over again in Poloff's meetings across Rajasthan. Since the Jat community has been recognized as an OBC community, the Rajput community feels they should also gain access to similar benefits. The Gujjars feel left behind in light of progress made among the Meena community due to education and employment benefits. The policy of reservations in Rajasthan, as in much of India, no longer seems to be about leveling the playing field for disenfranchised communities to have a chance. It appears more to be a political tool used by politicians to wedge division between communities to gain votes. Raje offered pieces of this pie to the Gujjars during the last election. Her inability to deliver could spell her downfall. End Comment. MULFORD