Raju Koli from Tonk and Lekhraj Saini and Chetan Chouhan from Jaipur district have problems that any well-intentioned government can solve but they are counting on a “government of Hindus” to deliver.

Koli, a Dalit from Radhaballabhpura on the banks of the Banas river in the Tonk Assembly constituency, has less than an acre of farmland. The smallholding was fertile enough for him to feed his family of five. After the Bisalpur dam was completed in 1999 and the water later diverted to Jaipur, Koli was left with drier land. His produce came down from three crops to a single crop a year. This year, he didn’t farm his land and is now a wage worker. Excessive sand and gravel mining from the banks of the river has made his land non-remunerative.

Asked what he wants from the government, he told The Telegraph: “(Congress MLA) Sachin Pilot arranged for maintenance of the Muslim cemetery. The Hindu crematorium is filthy, the seats are broken, and there is no proper drinking water dispenser. I want a government that works for the Hindus.”

Saini, an OBC, drives a school van and does multiple jobs to send his son to an English-medium private school. “Inflation is killing us, and I may have to move my son to a government-run Hindi-medium school. Despite the electricity bill waiver by (chief minister) Ashok Gehlot, we have got bills of more than Rs 1,000,” said this voter of Jaipur’s Sanganer constituency.

There are three Mahatma Gandhi Government Schools near his home, set up by the Gehlot government, which offer free English-medium education. The teaching there is inadequate, claims Saini, who prefers a private school for his child.

His election demand is a “government of Hindus”. Saini repeats a rumour that has been widely circulated online: “Kanhaiya Lal’s family got nothing. That Muslim who was killed in a personal fight got Rs 50 lakh.”

The wife of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal — who was murdered by two zealots last year over controversial remarks about Prophet Mohammed — got Rs 50 lakh as compensation from the state government. Two of his kin were given regular government jobs. This was reiterated by the state government last month when the circulation of the rumour peaked.

On Monday, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of the BJP said here that the Udaipur case would’ve been “settled in five minutes” in his state, adding that the Congress loves the Mughal rulers.

The Election Commission is yet to act against Sarma for similar remarks targeted at a Congress minister in Chhattisgarh who is Muslim.

The family of Iqbal Raza, who was lynched after a traffic collision here last month, was compensated with Rs 50 lakh, a contractual job and an offer of a milk booth allocation.

Chouhan, an accountant from Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal constituency, said he has many Muslim friends who, he thinks, will vote for the Congress. He will vote for Balmukund Acharya, a cleric of the Hathoj Dham temple here, contesting for the BJP.

Referred to as Maharaj, the candidate is known for his incendiary remarks. He had moved court against a film based on the Ramayana, asked people to ingest poison in protest against alleged cow slaughter, and claimed that the Congress government stopped a Ramleela at 9.30pm when it should have been allowed to go on further.

On Sunday, Acharya shared a Facebook post claiming that Hindus are fleeing Bengal because the BJP is not in power in the state. He is one of five religious leaders fielded in the polls. Of these, four are Hindus and from the BJP. The Muslim candidate is outgoing Congress minister Shale Mohammad, a hereditary religious leader of Sindhi Muslims. He faces Mahant Pratap Puri of the BJP in Pokaran — a seat with a higher-than-average Muslim population like Hawa Mahal and Tijara.

Chouhan blames inflation for wiping out his savings. “Why did the Congress start offering (cooking gas) cylinders for Rs 500 only in June? People feel that gurus like Maharaj and Balak Nath ji will work efficiently like Yogi (Adityanath). We want change,” he explained.

Cooking gas prices are set by the Centre, which offers a Rs 300 subsidy on 12 cylinders per year to select categories of women. The price of a non-subsidised 14.2kg cylinder in Rajasthan is Rs 906.50. The Rajasthan subsidy is targeted at the poor.

BJP’s Tijara candidate Balak Nath wears saffron robes like Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath, who has also campaigned for him. Nath came to file his nomination in a convoy of bulldozers — a symbol of Adityanath’s policy of bulldozing the homes of suspected criminals, especially those who protested against the new citizenship regime in 2020. Nath is reportedly in the race to become chief minister if the BJP wins

The party has not fielded any Muslim candidates in a state where the community constitutes 9.07 per cent of the population. In campaign speeches, leaders of the Congress and the CPM have slammed the BJP for seeking votes in the name of religion and caste but on the ground, Opposition parties have skirted the issue.

In Danta Ramgarh constituency’s Raiwasa village in Sikar district, Mohammed Rafeek and Ram Gopal say they are paid Rs 250 to Rs 300 per day for quarrying marble. They rattle off a number of government schemes that help their families stay afloat. Both identified themselves as Congress voters.

Asked about the perception that the Congress is biased towards Muslims and the BJP towards Hindus, Gopal replied: “In the quarry, we are all just workers. I eat in his house and he in mine. I am a Brahmin, so no one can lecture me about religion.”

Rafeek said: “Religion is for rich people to make poor people like us fight. We have no fight. If the BJP had worked as well as Ashok Gehlot, then I would’ve voted for the BJP.”

Tailor Sarfaraz Ahmed’s shop in the Vidyadhar Nagar Assembly seat in Jaipur is named Advocate Tailors. “My wife is a lawyer. In fact, there are many Muslims here who are educated and are government employees. Yet, all parties say that we are illiterate and need education to reform. There is not much choice for me in these elections. The BJP doesn’t like us. The Congress brought welfare schemes but there is corruption. I like the Aam Aadmi Party but only parties who abuse Muslims can win here.”