Jaipur, (Samajweekly) A big fight is on the cards in the Lachmangarh Assembly seat as the Congress has fielded its stalwart state PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra while it has been a ‘ghar wapsi’ for the BJP’s tall leader Subhash Maharia.
According to party leaders, the BJP has brought in Maharia as he can take on Dotasra in the PCC chief’s own constituency Lachmangarh. Incidentally, Dotasra is aiming to return to power in Lachmangarh for the fourth time.
The two veteran Jat leaders will lock horns after a decade. In the 2013 Assembly polls, Dotasra had defeated Maharia by a huge margin and retained the seat.
Dotasra has used his influence in government circles to declare Sikar divisional headquarters. He also claims to have done development work worth over Rs 1,000 crore in the last five years in his constituency.
However, the Enforcement Directorate raided his residences in Jaipur and Sikar recently due to allegations of his alleged connect with the REET (Rajasthan Examination Eligibility for Teachers) paper leak case. Now, everyone is waiting to see if this raid has any impact on his candidature.
For Maharia, who returned to the BJP fold in May this year, it is a do-or-die battle for his political future.
Maharia had contested the 2019 parliamentary election from Sikar as a Congress candidate. He was elected thrice on the BJP symbol from the Sikar constituency in 1998, 1999 and 2004 before he joined the Congress in 2016.
Maharia had served as the Union Minister of State for Rural Development in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1999 to 2004. After his defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP denied him a ticket in 2014, resulting in him parting ways with the saffron party and joining the Congress.
After joining the Congress, Maharia campaigned for Dotasra in the 2018 Assembly elections and ensured his victory.
However, soon after Maharia returned to the BJP in May, he said the Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government had failed to fulfil its promises and corruption had grown. Maharia added that he was happy to have returned to the BJP.
“We will create history in the 2023 Assembly elections and in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. We will make efforts to increase the BJP’s vote percentage by 20 per cent in the Sikar region,” he said.
Dotasra meanwhile is also leaving no stone unturned to ensure his victory and is sharing tweets like “Vijayi Bhavah, Yashasvi Bhavah, Lachmangarh” #Congress phir se.
So who will come out the winner in Sikar is a billion dollar question. Locals say that it will be the biggest contest in the state which would cost around Rs 100 crore. They can only wait and watch as the big battle for Lachmangarh plays out in November.
