Are you a victim of an unkept promise made by a politician? A promise he made when he came begging for votes but forgot all about it when he was sitting in his lofty chair at the secretariat? Well, here is something you can learn from the people of Rajasthan.
With Assembly elections less than a fortnight away and candidates on a please-all spree, here comes the voter’s ultimate demand: “The candidate should give an affidavit listing the promises being made, complete with the implementation date. And in case these are not fulfilled, the affidavit would double up as the chosen candidate’s resignation letter!”
A brainchild of Gujjar leader Col Kirori Singh Bainsla, the first lot of such affidavits have been sent to all the candidates in the fray. The idea is obviously a result of past experiences. “Last year, when we were protesting for the ST status, we kept saying Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje had made a pre-poll promise that she would get us our due. But she completely denied having said anything like this once she became the Chief Minister. We are not taking any chances this time. Now, we will get these affidavits signed by the candidate who comes asking for votes. These would bind the candidate to the promise he makes,” Bainsla said.
The affidavit distributed by Bainsla is in Hindi and is called “sankalp patra”. A set of about 10 points is typed on a Rs 10 stamp paper. The listed points include a
solemn promise that the candidate would support the Gujjar cause and work towards getting them the ST status. Another point makes the effort time bound. “I will ensure that the Gujjar demand is met within six months failing which this affidavit be considered my resignation,” it states.
“It is a method which will ensure a politician’s accountability,” points out Bainsla.
The ‘affidavit promise’ is fast catching the fancy of others also. A former speaker of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha Giriraj Prasad Tewari has asked candidates to sign an affidavit that they would work towards the enlisting of ‘Brij Bhasha’ among the scheduled
languages.
As for the candidates, they are understandably shocked with the ‘affidavit promise’. They have no idea how to get around this and even in election campaigning mode, candidates are saying ‘no’.
“How can I sign such an affidavit? It would bind me to a single issue. I am morally supporting these causes but will not sign an affidavit. It could have legal implications,” said Vijay Bansal, BJP candidate from Bharatpur.
“I will take a decision regarding signing on such affidavits only after the party high command gives me the go ahead,” said BS Koli, another BJP candidate from Vair.
Sources add that some vernacular newspapers in the state have also begun a campaign and getting ‘sankalp’ statements signed by the candidates about their development commitments for the state.
Bainsla in his inimitable style has added another rider that only those candidates who sign this affidavit would be allowed to enter Gujjar-dominated villages. “For those who refuse, its no-entry,” he said.
