Die is ‘caste’ for R’sthan byelections : The Tribune India

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Die is ‘caste’ for R’sthan byelections

JAIPUR:In the January 29 byelections in Rajasthan, local issues or anti-incumbency will not be the deciding factor.

Die is ‘caste’ for R’sthan byelections

On campaign trail: UPCC president Raj Babbar, Congress leader Nagma and Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot during a road show for a byelection campaign in Ajmer on Saturday. PTI



Yash Goyal

Jaipur, January 27 

In the January 29 byelections in Rajasthan, local issues or anti-incumbency will not be the deciding factor. It will be caste equations that will count, not only in these byelections but also in the Assembly elections as well as the General Election.

Gurjars and four other castes  have been striving for a separate quota in the OBC category. The  Rajputs are furious at the BJP government over the gangster Anandpal encounter. They are demanding a CBI probe. They are also agitated over the controversial release of the film “Padmaavat.” The Jat in the BJP are sulking too. All these factors could affect the poll prospects of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

The bypolls for the Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha constituencies and the Mandalgarh Assembly seat were necessitated after the death of SL Jat, Chandnath and Kiriti Kumari. In all, 23 candidates are the contest in Ajmer, 11 in Alwar and eight in Mandalgarh.

The CM, former Congress CM Ashok Gehlot, PCC president Sachin Pilot and BJP state chief Ashok Parnami campaigned intensively, not missing a single village, wooing voters of all 36 castes. The Congress has nothing to lose as all three seats belonged to the BJP.

To garner sympathy  votes of the Jat community, the BJP has fielded Ramswarup Lamba, son of the  late Sanwar Lal Jat, against Congress’  strong man Raghu Sharma who hails from Kekari city in the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency. Expecting to lead the party in the December Assembly polls, Sachin Pilot did not contest from his home constituency and convinced the Gandhi family to field his close friend Raghu.

Besides Jat and Brahmin votes, vote polarisation in Dargah district among the Rajput and Rawana-Rajput communities is giving the BJP leadership sleepless nights. They have openly come out  in support of the Congress.The BJP is banking on the Jat, Rawat, and Sindhi communities while the Congress has tried to crack the ruling party’s vote bank by creating an anti-incumbency wave.

The Alwar Lok Sabha seat that saw ‘lynching’ and ‘cow vigilantism’ will be decided by the Mev community. With the Yadavs dominant in the area, the ruling party fielded its Cabinet Minister Jaswant Yadav against Congress’ Karan Singh Yadav, a former Union Minister in the Manmohan government. Karan has been MLA twice and was once elected to the Lok Sabha. Jaswant has been MLA thrice. This seat has seven sitting BJP MLAs, none in favour of Jaswant. They could cause internal damage. Dalits and the Mev community are unlikely to go with the ruling party because of “atrocities”.

The Mandalgarh Assembly seat will neither be a cakewalk for BJP’s Shakti Singh Hada (Rajput) nor for Congress’ Vivek Dhakar. 

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