Barmer: Where is Hemaram Choudhary? Many in the Congress party struggled to answer that through Monday morning.
Just a day before filing of nomination papers for Rajasthan Assembly polls closes; the state's Revenue Minister and Congress candidate from Gudhamalani in Barmer went incommunicado. The sulking minister with considerable influence over Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's troubled territory of Jat community is now adding to Congress's mounting troubles including rebels in the run up to elections.
Upset with the party not accommodating the candidate backed by him for the seat of Siwana, Hemaram had last week said he's not interested in contesting elections this time ostensibly because politics is increasingly becoming dirty. Nonetheless Congress high command called Hemaram Choudhary to Delhi and announced his name in its fourth list.
But on the day Choudhary was to file his nomination papers he virtually went into 'hiding'. His wife told reporters who reached his house in Barmer looking for Choudhary that he's at their daughter's house in Ahmedabad.
Now even as the Congress is trying to talk him into agreeing to contest, Choudhary says he's done with contesting elections. Earlier as well he had put in his papers as the revenue minister after a war of words with Congress MLA Col Sonaram from Bayatu over shifting of the Barmer refinery to Pachpadra. Gehlot, however, had refused to accept his resignation.
With a string of factors making the poll battle tough for Congress, the party can anything but overlook Choudhary, the seat of Gudhamalani or the Jat factor associated. And with just 24 hours to go before filing of nominations closes in Rajasthan time's running out for it.
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