In Tonk, decades of history rewritten

Yash Goyal

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Tonk (Rajasthan), November 29

Famous for Musk Melon, the city of erstwhile “Nawabs of Tonk” is going to witness unprecedented Assembly elections on December 7. The history is going to be changed.

It is for the first time in the past 46 years that the Congress has fielded a Hindu candidate, Sachin Pilot, and the BJP, after 38 years, a Muslim, Yunus Khan, for the Tonk seat.

Khan, the most trusted Cabinet Minister of CM Vasundhara Raje, was first denied his Deedwana seat. Raje prevailed over the RSS, which did not want to field a single minority contestant in the state. The BJP had to drop its already declared candidate Ajeet Singh Mehta, who has represented Tonk three times (1972, 1977 and 2013), to accommodate Khan.

Both the parties may have their share of history, but to set the future course, a tough ask lies ahead of the candidates. Demonetisation and GST’s adverse impact continues to bother traders in the agriculture belt of the state.

“No government could bring a railway line to Tonk nor the under construction of Isarda dam has been completed. Banas river is on the verge of dying because of excess mining,” says Subodh Gogai, a fuel outlet owner living here for the last 50 years here.

Belonging to the Gurjar community, Pilot, son of former Union Minister Rajesh Pilot and former MLA Rama Pilot, is vying for a maiden place in the Assembly. He lost the Ajmer Lok Sabha seat during the Modi wave in 2014. In the second-last elections, he won the LS Dausa seat.

“Tonk has been neglected and given step motherly treatment by the BJP so far… I am waiting for the day whether UP CM Adityanath Yogi would land in Tonk for Khan’s campaigning,” says Pilot. Khan is relying on Mehta’s loyalists, who had earlier given victory to BJP candidates in nine Assembly elections in the past. The main rivals are addressing villagers in 36 gram panchayats.

Talking on the sidelines of a packed campaign, Khan said: “I am seeking vote on the public demands first, party second and Yunus third choice. If Pilot is declared CM candidate, I will be the first to retire for his honour, as at least Tonk may get the CM”. The BJP had swept all four seats of Malpura, Niwai, Tonk and Deoli-Uniara seats in 2013, but this time it won’t be that easy for the ruling party.