Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot is making one power move after another in his effort to win the Rajasthan Assembly elections and beat the state's history of alternating between the BJP and the Congress every five years.
Sources say that Gehlot has sprung a surprise by hiring the services of a political consultancy - DesignBoxed - that had been working for his main rival in the Rajasthan Congress - Sachin Pilot.
This comes less than a week after the Rajasthan chief minister delivered a Budget with a number of populist measures.
What Led to This?
Sources in the Rajasthan Congress say that DesignBoxed handled the publicity campaign to create a buzz around Gehlot's Budget. This involved hoardings being put up showcasing Gehlot's pet schemes like the Chiranjeevi Yojana and live streaming of the Budget in select educational institutions.
The main slogan that was put forward was 'Bachat, Rahat, Badhat (Savings, Relief and Progress)'.
This was unprecedented for someone like Gehlot, who is usually known to be understated in his leadership style.
The campaign worked and there was a great deal of hype created in the run-up to the Budget.
Negotiations between Gehlot and DesignBoxed's founder Naresh Arora began in January 2023.
According to sources, it was Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar who introduced the company to Gehlot.
DesignBoxed has been working with Shivakumar for the past two years. So far the company has been working exclusively with Congress leaders and units.
Why is This Important?
This move is important mainly because Gehlot chose a company that has been working with his rival Sachin Pilot for the past few years.
Most recently, the company had managed Sachin Pilot's publicity during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
But does this mean that this is Gehlot's way of outwitting Pilot? Or is there more to it?
Sources in the Rajasthan Congress say that a lot is changing on the "Gehlot vs Pilot" front.
"There are efforts to get them to work together in the run-up to the Assembly elections," a party leader from Rajasthan disclosed.
The Congress hopes that if it keeps its own house in order and there is a tussle between former CM Vasundhara Raje and the party high command in the BJP, there may be a chance it can return to power in Rajasthan.
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