Rajasthan: BJP Government Abolishes Nine Of 17 Districts Formed By Congress; Gehlot Criticises 'Anti-People' Move

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan has abolished nine out of the 17 districts and three divisions established by the preceding Congress government just months before the assembly elections last year.

This is the first significant decision of the Bhajan Lal Sharma administration which has frequently been criticised for avoiding delicate issues such as the termination of the 2021 sub-inspector recruitment or deciding on Minister Kirodi Lal Meena's resignation.

The Sharma government justified this action by stating that these districts and divisions were neither practical nor in the "public interest." However, this could potentially give the opposition Congress more grounds for protest, as it has sparked public outrage.

The Congress has promptly begun their work, with state chief Govind Singh Dotasra and assembly opposition leader Tika Ram Jully spearheading the issue.

The scheduling of the decision by the Sharma administration could potentially mitigate any losses for the BJP. Given that the courts are currently on break and there are still four years remaining until the elections, the BJP administration is confident that they have sufficient time to manage any dissatisfaction stemming from the decision.

Rajasthan Law Minister, Jogaram Patel, announced the government's decision to abolish the districts and divisions on Saturday. He stated, "We don't view this decision through a political lens; instead, we prioritize the public and national interests, focusing on the welfare of Rajasthan."

Patel highlighted the Congress's defeat in the majority of the constituencies in the recently formed districts. The BJP triumphed in 29 out of the 51 Assembly seats in these areas, almost doubling its previous count of 15 from 2018.

Conversely, the Congress's count decreased from 26 in 2018 to 20. Meanwhile, independent candidates secured victories in two constituencies.

The native district of CM Sharma, Deeg and Tijara, associated with saffron leader Mahant Balaknath, have been maintained. However, Dudu, the district of Deputy Chief Minister (CM) Prem Chand Bairwa, has been eliminated.

Former CM Ashok Gehlot criticised the Sharma administration, questioning why Deeg continues to be a district even though it's only 38 km away from Bharatpur, its previous district headquarters.

He highlighted the inconsistency by pointing out that both Sanchore and Anupgarh were eliminated, despite the considerable distances of 135 km and 125 km between Sanchore-Jalore and Anugarh-Ganganagar, respectively.

Gehlot criticised the BJP's decision as “politically motivated and anti-people”, using Madhya Pradesh as an example, which has 55 districts despite being geographically smaller than Rajasthan.

The Congress leader argued that administrative reach, delivery of amenities and programs, swift resolution of issues, and law and order maintenance are all more effective in districts with smaller territories.

He further asserted that the government's “guilty conscience” was compelling it to "release statements from retired officials" in order to justify its decision.