Sojat, a sleepy town 80 kms from Jodhpur, has suddenly gained traction. The Congress has fielded high profile former chief secretary Niranjan Arya against the sitting BJP MLA Shobha Chauhan, who is wife of a senior officer of Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS).
Chauhan's husband Rajesh Kumar Chauhan is a 1999 officer serving as joint secretary in technical education department.
Chauhan had been officer on special duty (OSD) of union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal from July 2017 to September 2018.
Shobha Chauhan entered electoral politics in 2015 when she was elected pradhan of panchayat samiti Raipur-Marwar.
Chauhan was caught in a controversy when during last election campaign, she had promised the people of her constituency that she would ensure child marriages are not acted against if she is voted to power. She would not let police and administration intervene in child marriages.
Later in 2018 she was elected as MLA from Sojat beating Shobha Solanki by a margin of over 32,000 votes.
For former chief secretary Niranjan Arya, Sojat is not a new constituency. His wife Sangeeta Arya had contested on this seat in 2013 on Congress ticket. However, she had lost the election to BJP's Sanjana Agari by over 22,000 votes.
Arya is a close confidante of Ashok Gehlot, who enjoyed prime postings during tenures of Gehlot, who made Arya chief secretary by superseding 10 senior IAS officers, which is a record of sort.
Even after retirement in January 2022, Arya was appointed as advisor to chief minister Ashok Gehlot.
Apart from that Arya, who was elected as the state chief commissioner of Bharat Scouts and Guides, a voluntary organisation for young people, has been credited to organise national jamboree, the largest event of scouts and guides at Rohat, a part of his constituency earlier this year.
“The event helped Arya build local connect with people. This can be instrumental in winning votes for Arya. Shobha Chauhan has a strong local network. Arya will have to work hard to give strong fight to Chauhan,” said Rajendra Jain, a political observer from Pali.
The caste factor:
Sojat is a reserved constituency for scheduled caste. The dominating caste is Meghwal to which Shobha Chauhan belongs. There are reasonable number of Dholi community also from where Arya comes from. Then there are Mali, Rajput, Brahmins and Jains which can be the deciding factor.
Vivek Shukla is a management graduate who has worked in corporate worked for 20 years and is now pursuing his passion — news.
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