In Barmer, it is a battle for oil and money

 

Ms Raje, according to many people in Rajasthan, did it so out of personal animosity between the two leaders. However, others think the decision was part of big change in the BJP’s social engineering under its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to shift banking on traditional Rajput, Bania, Brahmin votebanks to OBCs. Thus, Ms Raje chose Col. Sonaram as he belongs to the most influential political OBC community in Rajasthan.

 

It would be naïve to think that a battle, whether between two nations or politicians, is just about territory or political supremacy. There is a lot more at stake, especially an economic aspect.

 

The battle between Mr Jaswant Singh and Col. Sonaram or Ms Raje is not about winning the Lok Sabha election. As former US President Bill Clinton famously said, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

 

The once sleepy town of Barmer is now buzzing with economic activities thanks to oil and gas discovery a decade ago. Big bucks followed as demand for real estate boomed and the discovery was followed by an announcement that a refinery would be set up in the area. 

 

Just to put things in perspective, the Rajasthan government receives approximately Rs 5,000 crores per annum in sales tax and royalty from the sale of crude oil.

 

Both the warring camps, as well as the third belonging to Harish Choudhary of the Congress, portray the Barmer contest as a political battle, but it is all about oil. After all, money is to be made from contracts for everything — from the supply of construction material, labour, equipment, taxis and hotels bookings and last, but not the least, real estate.

 

Politicians have purchased land in anticipation of a refinery being built. Land acquisition was a big issue during the Assembly elections, in which Col. Sonaram was a key player as he had opposed the Rajasthan government’s move to shift refinery site from Lilala to Pachpadra. The land in Lilala was to be acquired from farmers, who demanded Rs 1 crore per bigha for land that had no takers a few years ago and was available dirt cheap.

 

If refinery shifts to Pachpadra, it means those who bought hundreds of acres in Lilala, in anticipation of a refinery being built there, now stand to lose big bucks. Besides, who wouldn’t like to control the flow of money through various contracts?

 

It is in this backdrop that the Lok Sabha election in Barmer needs to be seen. There is nothing personal about it. And, the caste may be a factor for the voters, but for the politicians it’s all about money.