India's National Magazine
From the publishers of THE HINDU

Vol. 15 :: No. 25 :: Dec. 05 - 18 , 1998

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COVER STORY

'The onion was after us'

On the evening of November 28, in a brief note addressed to the Governor, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat announced his decision to step down as Rajasthan Chief Minister. The last of the results were yet to be declared but the trend clearly showed which way the wind was blowing in the desert State. For the BJP stalwart, it was the end of a third term in office. Excerpts from an interview he gave T.K. Rajalakshmi in Jaipur:

What were the main reasons for the BJP's rout in Rajasthan?

It is not easy to assess the situation. It was a combination of price rise and caste politics played by the Congress(I) that led to our defeat. Since 1972, there has been no election in which an immediate factor has not worked against the party in power. We drew lessons from the 1998 parliamentary elections and we did all that we could in the last eight months (to reverse the trend). We were confident that the development work done in the State would be appreciated by the people. I agree that development as an issue did not go down well with the people. We had no idea that an immediate factor such as onion prices would prevail. Nobody can ignore the price rise factor but it was a seasonal calamity which none could foresee. There was a delayed action on this. Any immediate problem can be dangerous. These are lessons that we will have to learn from these elections. The interest of (agricultural) producers was not met and the consumer was also not satisfied.

Is not the verdict a statement on the performance of your Government as well?

I do not know whose non-performance has led to the defeat of the BJP here. In the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, water, electricity and so on were not the real reasons for our poor performance though people would like to believe so. Our development work was overshadowed by the onion factor. Pyaj hamare peeche pada hua tha (The onion was after us). The people have rejected the party, not me. Even the Congress(I) did not expect these results. They never claimed that they would get so many seats. All the changes and development took place in the last two months. Rajasthan will become another Bihar as the use of the caste card will have its repercussions.

Do you say that caste relations in Rajasthan are much better than in Bihar?

There have been no caste-related tensions in Rajasthan until now.

Whom would you blame for the BJP's dismal performance - the Central Government, for the delay in controlling vegetable prices, or the State Government led by you?

Both of us are responsible. The Centre did what it could. This is a temporary phenomenon. Political parties just blew the issue out of proportion.

You said that the party assessed the situation wrongly. How could such an experienced party have gone wrong like this?

Was Indira Gandhi not an experienced leader? She miscalculated and lost the 1977 elections. Neither the organisation nor an individual can be blamed for this situation. Neither has governance been an issue here nor have the farmers been unhappy with us. About atrocities on women, I think the crime records show that it is M.P. which leads in such cases. Price rise was a factor everywhere. It did not work in M.P. because there the people were told that the Centre was to blame for it.