BHOPAL: An interesting electoral battle is on between two former ‘babus’ (bureaucrats) in Rajasthan’s Bassi assembly constituency for the November 25 assembly elections.
An ex-officer of Indian Administrative Services (1980-batch IAS) is pitted against an ex- officer of Indian Police Services (IPS Rajashthan cadre).
Bassi is a reserved assembly constituency in Jaipur district falling under the Dausa Lok Sabha segment with more than 2,16,905 voters. The Congress has fielded a former IPS officer Laxman Singh Meena against BJP’s Chandrabhan Meena, a former IAS officer.
“It is a direct fight between the former civil servants. Both belong to the Meena community and are distantly related,” said Sohan Meena, a Bassi resident.“Congress’ Laxman Meena plunged into politics in 2009 after taking VRS from IPS while BJP’s Chandra Mohan Meena joined politics after his retirement in 2014. BJP’s Meena served as information commissioner in the then Raje government from 2015-16 and joined BJP before the election,” he said.
Chandra Mohan was the district magistrate in Jalore from 1988-90. Residents say this is the first time when Bassi is watching a direct fight between the two former babus who studied together in school and colleges.
Laxman Meena had earlier fought the election as an Independent and won the seat. The Congress after much thought got him to contest against Chandra Mohan Meena.“The BJP claims to have an edge in the ST community while the Congress has fielded a candidate who contested as an independent,” said Mohan Meena, who runs a readymade garments outlet in Bassi.
In 2018, Laxman Meena had won the seat by 42,764 votes and supported the Ashok Gehlot government. Prior to his entry into politics, Laxman had served many districts as SP. He is a resident of the same panchayat called Tunga from the BJP candidate also comes.
Interestingly when BJP candidate Chandra Mohan Meena was the collector of Jalore in 1988-90, Laxman Meena was the SP in the same district. Not only this, sources said that when Chandra Mohan Meena was promoted and posted as commissioner in Bikaner, Laxman Meena accompanied him there also as the IG.
Apart from them, Congress has also fielded a former IAS officer Niranjan Arya from Sojat assembly in Bassi assembly constituency which has 23,374 voters inclduing 1,21,481 males and 10,11,293 women voters. Sources said more than 15,648 new voters have also been added this time.
Locals said the results would be decided by the youth and women voters. The BJP is attempting to popularise women voters citing the Women Reservation Bill and other women-centric schemes. The Congress is promising better education for women. The BJP is raising crimes against women as major poll issue against Congress.
It’s ex-IAS vs ex-IPS in Bassi reserved constituency
Bassi is a reserved assembly constituency in Jaipur district falling under the Dausa Lok Sabha segment with more than 2,16,905 voters. Sources said more than 15,648 new voters have also been added this time. Locals said results would be decided by the youth and women voters.