New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has prepared a list of 500 people representing different castes to reach voters of their respective castes in Rajasthan ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to counter the fake narrative spread by the Congress” on caste census and reservation and to share the vision of the Modi government.
The Opposition bloc, INDIA, has made “social justice” a key poll plank. Leaders Rahul Gandhi, M.K. Stalin, and Akhilesh Yadav, among others, have pressed for a caste census and made social equity their strong pitch to take on the BJP in the elections.
During his Rajasthan visit, Union Home Minister Amit Shah shared the party’s vision with 200-odd representatives in a meeting Sunday. Later, the party formed several “samajik toliyan (social groups)” with three to four representatives who would visit voters in various parts of the state. The party is also preparing a list of issues for them to share.
A BJP leader who attended the meeting said the idea is to have “direct communication with the people” to understand their concerns and ensure they vote for the BJP.
“They (representatives) will go door-to-door, and apart from sharing the vision of the Modi government, they will also take feedback and suggestions and even complaints from different social groups. If those can be addressed before the elections, probably through coordination, it will be done on priority,” said the leader.
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‘Reservation to stay’
Caste plays a huge factor in Rajasthan elections, with Jats, Rajputs, Meenas, and Gujjars playing a dominant role.
The BJP leader said different social groups have lately been raising questions on reservations and changing the Constitution, which necessitated the Sunday meeting.
The leader, however, said, “PM Modi has been saying that the four biggest castes are the poor, the youth, the women, and the farmers.”
A senior BJP leader, on the condition of anonymity, said representatives of 29 communities, including Jats, Gujjars, Rajputs, Brahmins, Malis, and Jatavs, attended the Sunday meeting. The representatives include members of different social organisations, retired IAS and IPS officers, and BJP leaders and functionaries, he added.
According to a party source, some community members expressed their apprehensions during the meeting, asking Shah whether the party would get rid of reservations if it came to power. “Some told Shah that these questions keep floating among various social groups, and many are apprehensive. Shah told them categorically — ‘reservation na kabhi chheda gaya hai aur na chheda jayega (never has reservation been messed with and never will it happen)’,” the source said.
Addressing the group, Shah also said the Opposition is uniting to remove PM Modi even though he has only one slogan — “development of the nation”. “After independence, the Congress has worked to divide society. It has created four sores of corruption, casteism, nepotism, and terrorism, whereas PM Modi has freed the country from all these,” a BJP statement quoted Shah as saying.
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‘Tough’ contest on half a dozen seats
According to sources, the BJP has received feedback that at least on half a dozen seats, the situation is “tough”.
The Congress has fielded several turncoats and senior leaders in Rajasthan, hoping to give tough competition to the BJP. For instance, the party replaced its Bhilwara Lok Sabha candidate Damodar Gujjar with C.P. Joshi, former Union minister, Vidhan Sabha Speaker and former Congress state president.
BJP has made its Rajasthan unit general secretary Damodar Agarwal its candidate from Bhilwara. Agarwal replaced the sitting three-time BJP MP Subhash Chandra Baheria, who defeated his Congress rival with the highest margin of six lakh votes in 2019.
Apart from the meeting social groups, Amit Shah also met the party’s core committee and eight clusters formed to contest the 25 seats in Rajasthan.
“Separate strategies have been devised for ‘weak seats’, and the focus is on increasing vote share compared to 2019, ensuring the party can cross 370 and NDA 400,” said another BJP leader who wished to not be named.
Another party leader said both PM Modi and Amit Shah are keeping a close watch on weak seats. “Some of these weak seats are Churu, Sikar, Dungarpur-Banswara, and Dausa, among others. A different strategy is under preparation to win these seats,” the leader said.
“Amit Shah ji is taking direct reports for all these seats. The party’s focus is to hold more road shows and meetings in these weak seats,” added the leader.
BJP’s Rajasthan election in-charge Satish Poonia told ThePrint, “The party is confident of winning all 25 seats and rallies of bigger leaders are being planned to motivate the cadre further. If there is any deficiency or any issue, that is also being dealt with.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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