Jaipur, Dec 29 (PTI) First came the setback and then the comeback. That in a nutshell was the BJP story in Rajasthan in 2024. The Congress story could also be told in two halves — triumphs and then tribulations.
Another story that dominated the news cycle in 2024 was students’ suicide in Kota. And sadly there was no back-to-life narrative to add in that. The recurring incidents of suicide dealt a body blow to the country’s “coaching hub”, bringing its economy down from a whopping revenue of Rs 6,500-7000 crore annually to Rs 3,000-3,500 crore.
The year began on an uncertain note for Rajasthan — apprehensions about a first-time MLA-chief minister in Bhajan Lal Sharma; about a fluid political landscape after assembly polls gearing up to face Lok Sabha polls; about the students’ suicide at Kota; and about Model Code of Conduct for LS polls halting development work.
Many questioned if the BJP relying on far-less experienced Sharma and moving on from veteran Vasundhara Raje would cost the party, and also the state.
There were questions about the Congress too, with murmurs that infighting within the party led to its defeat in the assembly polls and could harm it in the Lok Sabha elections too.
But by the time year ended, most of these questions were answered. Chief Minister Sharma took one decision after the other with conviction and backing of the party high command.
Under his leadership, the party won five of the seven seats that voted in bypolls. His government took tough action in paper leak case.
In the year’s last Cabinet meeting held on December 28, the Sharma government decided to dissolve nine districts formed by the previous Congress dispensation, saying they were neither “practical” nor in “public interest”. Three new divisions were also dissolved. The state will now only have seven divisions and 41 districts.
Sharma consolidated his position with the organisation of the Rising Rajasthan Summit in December, where an investment of Rs 35 lakh-crore was pledged to the state.
The Congress, defeated in the assembly polls in November 2023, made a comeback in the Lok Sabha polls, winning eight of the 25 seats, and putting a halt on talks of infighting. This was first instance of the Congress winning a Lok Sabah seat in the state since 2014.
The BJP went into the elections with confidence but it was restricted to just 14 seats. Its 2019 LS poll ally RLP went with the Congress under the INDIA bloc.
The state also copped some fatal accidents and tragedies in 2024, the deadliest coming the last month.
An LPG tanker collided with a truck in the chilling morning of December 20 on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway, sparking a massive fireball that killed 17 people died and destroyed 39 vehicles. The nation was in mourning.
People in nearly 20 villages of the Lake city Udaipur remained terrified due to unabated leopard attacks in October. Ten people were killed in leopard attacks in Gogunda and nearby areas. The forest department had to carry out an intense search operation and also take the help of a private shooter to eliminate the leopard.
One leopard was shot dead and one was beaten to death by villagers.
Other significant incidents included the death of a five-year-old boy after falling into a borewell in Dausa, a collision between a security vehicle of the CM’s cavalcade and a taxi car, leaving its driver and an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) dead.
On the legislative front, the Bhajanlal government approved the “Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill 2024”.
The world famous Sufi saint Moinuddin Chisti dargah was in the news in November when a court in Ajmer admitted a petition claiming it was built over a Shiva temple, and issued notices to the Ajmer dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Archaeology Survey of India.
The Lok Sabha polls setback in May-June triggered a mini rebellion in the BJP, with cabinet Minister Kirodi Lal Meena embarrassing the party and the government. He submitted his resignation, but chief minister did not accept the resignation.
The party, meanwhile, replaced state president and Lok Sabha MP CP Joshi with Rajya Sabha MP Madan Rathore, for whom the November assembly bypolls were going to be a litmus test.
Meena continues to raise the demand to cancel the 2021 sub-inspector recruitment exam over alleged paper leak. The party tried to placate him by fielding his brother Jagmohan Meena from the Dausa seat in November assembly bypoll, but he lost. Meena blamed some party leaders for the defeat.
During the bypoll to the Tonk-Uniara assembly seat, independent candidate Naresh Meena slapped an SDM for allegedly influencing voters. This was followed by violence and arson in Samravta village. Meena was later arrested.
Among other notable political developments, Jat leader Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party suffered a significant blow in the assembly bypolls and the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) emerged as a powerful regional force in the tribal region.
Beniwal was the only RLP MLA in the assembly and when he was elected as Nagaur MP as INDIA bloc, he fielded his wife Kanika Beniwal in the bypolls from Khinwsar seat. But she lost the election to BJP.
His party now has no MLA in the house of 200. The Congress did not go for alliance with his party in the bypolls.
At the same time, tribal-dominated Vagad region saw the emergence of Bharat Adivasi Party which has four MLAs and one MP — Rajkumar Roat from the Banswara-Dungarpur seat.
In the assembly bypolls, the party retained Chorasi assembly seat which had fallen vacant after the election of Rajkumar Roat to Lok Sabha.
As the people of Rajasthan dealt with mundane ups and downs of life, there was one sobering sub-text that remained constant in 2024: students’ suicide in Kota.
Seventeen students who were preparing for medical and engineering exams in the city committed suicide in the year, according to reports.
Kota collector Ravindera Goswami told PTI the administration has taken several steps to deal with the situation, and the number of suicides reduced by 50 per cent from 2023.
The news about suicides dented Kota’s image as a coaching city and harmed its economy, which is heavily depended on the industry. The impact is reflected in the numbers.
According to those in the industry, the city used to witness about 2 lakh students per year earlier, but it is down to 85,000 to 1 lakh now; and the economy has almost halved from an annual revenue of Rs 6,500-7,000 crore.
Experts have cited other reasons as well for the decreasing number of students such as the Centre’s new guidelines on registration, and reputed coaching institutes opening their branches in other major cities. Goswami said the administration has taken several steps to engage students under distress and hopefully there would be no such cases. PTI SDA COR TIR TIR
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