BJP VETERAN TAKES ON CONG DEBUTANT ON SEAT ENTANGLED IN CASTE EQUATIONS

Jaipur: A direct contest seems to be taking place between Congress and BJP in Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha constituency. Far from the issues, in this seat, which is entangled in caste equations, Congress has placed its bets on youth and the BJP on a veteran. This seat came into existence in 2008. From then until now, the BJP has had the upper hand in victory here. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the elections twice on the BJP ticket, while Lalchand Kataria won on the Congress ticket. The biggest reason for BJP’s victory was the face of Narendra Modi. In the last two elections, the BJP candidate got a big victory due to the Modi wave. Since the delimitation, the BJP has been betting on a Rajput face in this seat. The same thing happened this time too.

In terms of politics, for the voters of Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has fielded its experienced leader, former Assembly Deputy Speaker Rao Rajendra Singh, while the Congress has given a ticket to young face Anil Chopra. Singh has been MLA from Shahpura while Chopra, who came out of RU Student Union politics has worked in Youth Congress. He is making a debut in the Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate.

The special thing in the current elections is that Lalchand Kataria, the only non-BJP leader who has been an MP from this seat, has said goodbye to his parent party Congress and joined the BJP. A large part of the Jaipur Rural seat used to be part of Dausa Lok Sabha constituency before delimitation. At that time, Rajesh Pilot used to be the MP from Dausa. The population of the Dalit class is considered to be highest here as Khatik, Regar, Bairwa, Balai, Harijan and Koli classes are also prominent among the Dalit class. Jat, Gurjar, Rajput, Brahmin, Yadav, and Meena are the main caste groups here. A sizeable number of Muslim votes are also there but cannot be called decisive. The major castes are SC, ST, Jat, Gurjar, Rajput, Brahmin and Yadav.