Ajmer bypoll: All set for keen BJP-Cong contest

Yash Goyal

DARGAH city of Ajmer is set for a keen political contest following the demise of BJP MP and former Union minister Sanwar Lal Jat. There is a speculation that the Ajmer LS bypoll might be held along with the elections in other states in December this year. 

It is said the bypoll will decide political statures of CM Vasundhara Raje and PCC chief Sachin Pilot. Aspirants from both parties (Congress and BJP) are eying the Ajmer seat, which is largely dominated by Jats and Gurjars. Presence of Muslim, Rajput and Rawat communities is also substantial.

As the BJP occupies all 25 Lok Sabha seats from the state, PM Narendra Modi or party president Amit Shah would not like to see any downslide in the tally. To keep its Jat vote bank in tact, the Raje government had nominated Sanwar Lal Jat as the Kisan Ayog Chairman despite him being dropped from the Union Cabinet due to illness. His bereaved wife, son or daughter could be fielded to garner sympathy votes in the bypoll. RSS hardliner and academician CB Gaina or his daughter could also figure in the probables for the party ticket.

However, the Congress seems to have an edge over the ruling BJP due to anti-incumbency against the Raje government. "The Congress has got a number of winnable candidates from every community for the remaining period of the present LS. If speculations are to be believed, the PM and his party will prefer to have LS poll along with the state assembly elections slated to be held in December 2018," Sachin Pilot said.

Crude oil theft

The police last month registered a case in connection with alleged crude oil theft by transporters that caused a loss of several crores to CAIRN Oil and Gas in Barmer over the past 4-5 years. About 225 crude oil wells, with an output of 1.75 lakh barrel per day, are spread in Barmer and Jalore districts from where CAIRN transports oil to Gujarat through a pipeline. The oil from two "satellite wells" in the Gudhamalani area is transported in tankers. Transporters,  however, managed to breach the monitoring system by manipulating GPS, and allegedly stole 3 lakh barrela of oil, causing a revenue loss of around Rs 40-50 crore to the authorities.

Five cases of theft lodged with the Barmer police have been shifted to the special operations group and 31 accused, mostly transporters, arrested so far.

Sand catalyst for bio-diesel

Scientists led by Rakesh K Sharma of IIT-Jodhpur have been successful in producing bio-diesel using Marwar sand as a catalyst for converting algae into fuel. In a research paper appearing in ACS: Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering Journal-2017, they claimed the new technique would reduce the cost of diesel production as Marwar sand would be used in place of expensive rhodium for producing diesel.