Four castes, mainly Jats, Rajputs, Meenas, and Gujjars, play a dominant role in electing candidates.
NEW DELHI
The election in Rajasthan seems to be more dependent on the caste factor. The state has 200 Assembly seats, where four castes, mainly Jats, Rajputs, Meenas, and Gujjars, play a dominant role in electing candidates. Before the elections, the state saw a series of Mahapanchayats in the capital city of Jaipur, where prominent caste leaders gave a message to both the Congress and the BJP to look into caste factors while distributing tickets to the candidates. The Jat community forms the biggest caste group in Rajasthan, with 9% of the total population. They have influence mainly in the Marwar and Shekhawati regions, and their presence is in 85 constituencies. The community sent 42 MLAs across party line to the state Assembly in the last election. They mainly demand a chief minister from both parties; however, this demand has yet to be fulfilled. Their influence becomes clear that both BJP and Congress opted for Satish Poonia and Govind Dotasara both Jat faces as their unit chiefs; however, BJP’s shift to C.P Joshi, a Brahmin face and MP from Chittorgarh as Rajasthan BJP’s chief in March 2023 could hurt it during elections. Unlike Jats, Rajputs have trusted the BJP for a long time. Whether it’s the inclusion of royal families in the BJP or the two Chief Ministers, Vasundra Raje and Bhairaon Singh Shekhawat, the BJP has always roped in votes from this community. Rajputs account for around 6% of the total population in the state. In the 2018 elections, the BJP fielded 29 Rajput candidates out of whom 24 won, while Congress fielded 15 candidates out of whom only two could win. This equation seems to repeat itself in this election too. With the inclusion of Rajyavardhan Rathore and Diya Kumari and their already strong state leadership, the BJP has managed to cement this caste equation.
In the last Assembly elections, Gujjar, who traditionally votes for the BJP, shifted their votes towards Congress as they were sure that Sachin Pilot would become Chief Minister once Congress came to power. However, they were left disappointed when he was made Deputy Chief Minister and later removed. This move by Congress has hurt caste sentiments and could go in favour of the BJP. Also, BJP has successfully roped in several young leaders from the Gujjar community to woo voters in their favour. The community has an influence on around 30 seats, mainly in Karauli, Tonk, Hindaun, and Dausa districts of eastern Rajasthan. Experts in the state believe that the BJP has better managed the caste equation than Congress. The BJP made Jagdeep Dhankhar, a Jat face, Vice President, while a Brahmin C.P. Joshi has been made Rajasthan BJP chief and Rajendra Rathore, a Rajput, as the leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly. This bouquet of BJP looks more colourful than Congress and will yield good results for the saffron party. However, Congress also tried to woo these castes by constituting boards in the names of Veer Tejaji and Maharan Pratap. The Congress government has also agreed to conduct a caste-based census if voted to power again.