“Media reports are coming from America, that the UN has banned dreaded terrorist chief of terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed Masood Azhar. At last, there is consensus in the world over declaring Masood Azhar a terrorist. It is a delayed but welcome decision and a major victory in India’s fight against terrorism. This is the new India, where the roar of 130 crore people is echoing around the world. Nobody can ignore the voice of India. This is just the beginning, just wait and watch.”

This is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi thundered at a rally in Jaipur on Wednesday evening, merely hours after the UN declared Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar a global terrorist. “Our policy towards national security is clear. The country trusts the chowkidar. If they fire a bullet, we will fire a bomb,” he added. The crowd lustily cheered for more. Slogans of “Bharat mata ki jai” and “Phir ek baar Modi sarkar” reverberated in the atmosphere.

Scenes from PM Modi’s May 1 rally.

Jaipur has traditionally been a Bharatiya Janata Party bastion, and the BJP has held the seat for almost three decades. The Congress managed to win just once in 2004—the elections held after delimitation—and incidentally also the one that came after the 2009 death of BJP MP Girdhari Lal Bhargava, who held the seat for 20 years. Till recently, Jaipur has never been a cause of worry for the BJP, given its strong cadre base and widespread public support. This time, the party is sparing no effort to keep its citadel safe, and Modi’s rally is one of these efforts.

The Jaipur parliamentary seat is made up of eight Assembly seats: Kishanpole, Hawa Mahal, Malviya Nagar, Adarsh Nagar, Civil Lines, Vidhyadhar Nagar, Sanganer and Bagru. The BJP has always depended on its organisation and cadre to hold on to this fort, but that’s now in shambles. This was reflected in two major events over the last few months. First, the BJP lost five out of these eight Assembly seats in the recent Assembly polls held in December 2018, (they had all eight in 2013). Second, it lost the post of mayor—that too in a municipal council where it had a brute majority. Close to two dozen BJP councillors voted against the party candidate, Manoj Bhardwaj, who lost to Vishnu Lata. Lata, who was the BJP’s own councillor, affected a coup with the help of the Congress to become mayor and later joined the Congress.

The BJP here had also adopted a policy to not give any ticket to Muslims. This caused a consolidation of Muslim votes in favour of the Congress and resulted in two Muslim candidates winning on Jaipur seats—a new trend. There’s now apprehension about similar consolidation adding to Congress votes.

Ramcharan Bora, the BJP candidate, is seeking votes in the name of Modi and nationalism.

The BJP rank and file is quite pleased with the effect a Modi rally is likely to have on the public. “Jaipur is dominated by Brahmin and Vaishya votes. We have a Brahmin [candidate] and the Congress has fielded a Vaishya. We were initially worried after we lost most seats in the Assembly elections, but now all is under control,” says a BJP functionary on condition of anonymity. “People, especially the youth, want to vote for Modi. The candidate is inconsequential.”

Jaipur has no dearth of local issues, but they don’t seem to matter to people who went to hear the prime minister. Kanta Devi and Moti Lal Sain are residents of Mansarovar in Jaipur. They took half a day leave from work to attend the rally and hear Modi speak. On being asked who they will vote, pat comes the answer: “Modi”.

Kanta Devi explains, “We are safe from Pakistan because of Modi. Pakistan fears us as our Army has been made strong by Modi.” Moti Lal adds:  “Did you hear what the PM just said? Hindustan goli ka jawab gole se dega (India will respond to a bullet shot with a bomb). We will vote for him.”

It’s no wonder then that BJP MP Ramcharan Bohra, who had won by a margin of over five lakh votes in 2014, is now seeking votes in the name of Modi and nationalism.

On the other hand, the Congress has fielded Jyoti Khandelwal, the former mayor of Jaipur, as its candidate. A worker who has risen along the ranks, Khandelwal, who has a doctorate in mathematics, is pitching in all efforts to gain an advantage against Bohra. During her intensive campaign, she calls on people to support a woman to represent them in Parliament. (After all, it’s after almost 50 years that a woman is contesting in Jaipur. The last one was Gayatri Devi of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family, who was a three-time MP from the Swatantra Party.)

Congress candidate Jyoti Khandelwal campaigning with CM Ashok Gehlot and Deputy CM Sachin Pilot.

The Congress too has launched an aggressive campaign for Khandelwal. MLAs who have won on city seats have been given the responsibility in their areas to generate results similar to what happened in the Assembly polls. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot have gone door to door seeking votes for Khandelwal. The party’s national president Rahul Gandhi is also holding two rallies in a span of just five weeks. Gandhi was in Jaipur on March 26 and is addressing another rally today in Jaipur district’s Chomu, which falls under the Sikar Lok Sabha seat.

For the record, the stage at Modi’s rally was packed with candidates from three parliamentary constituencies and prominent state leaders—with the obvious exception of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje. This is yet another sign that the saga of the conflict between Delhi and the Jaipur BJP continues.

There had been talk all through Vasundhara Raje’s tenure about her sharing strained relations with PM Modi and national BJP president Amit Shah. However, she was declared the face of the BJP in the Assembly polls. But Raje has been missing from the limelight in Rajasthan since she was denied the post of Leader of Opposition and was made national vice president after the Assembly polls. This is quite similar to Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s situation, but he continues to stay relevant and in the forefront of Madhya Pradesh politics.

During Modi and Shah’s aggressive campaigning in Rajasthan, the only time Raje shared a stage with Modi was at Chittorgarh. She also only campaigned with Shah during a roadshow in Jodhpur for Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is said to be extremely close to Shah and Modi.

There had also reportedly been a major stand-off between Raje and the central leadership when Raje loyalist Ashok Parnami was asked to resign from the post of state president and Shekhawat was all set to take over. Raje had vehemently opposed it and the matter lingered for over three months, causing much bitterness. Madan Lal Saini was later made president as a consensus choice.

This conflict within the cadre was also seen as a major cause of electoral losses.