Caste factor prevails strongly in state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan or Telangana..?!
While the lok sabha elections in the narendra modi era have risen above caste or guarantees, the caste factor still prevails strongly in state elections. In Madhya Pradesh, rajasthan or telangana, the caste factor reigns supreme. The popular notion is that it was the ‘5 guarantees’ that swung the karnataka elections for the congress a few months ago. However, if one looks at the results closely, a different picture emerges. The chief reason for the congress win in karnataka was that Vokaliggas shifted their loyalties in the Old mysore region from the JD(S) to the congress because they thought their leader DK Shivakumar would become the Chief Minister.The Vokaliggas always took pride in their leader, HD deva Gowda becoming the prime minister and his son HD Kumaraswamy becoming the Chief Minister. JD(S) collapsed in the election, losing deposits in two-thirds of the seats it contested, and the congress benefitted from it. Similar had been the case in rajasthan five years ago when the congress swept eastern rajasthan because the Gujjars dominant in three districts there thought their leader Sachin Pilot would become the Chief Minister. The main reason the congress did not project Pilot as the cm this time too is the fact that ashok Gehlot’s community, the mali voters, outnumber the Gujjar voters and the mali voters also have a wide presence across Rajasthan.In Madhya Pradesh, the OBC and tribal factors continue to run supreme with shivraj singh chouhan confident that he will be cm again if the bjp wins as he feels his community has a strong presence over nearly 100 seats in the state. Chouhan had sensed trouble when an incident with a tribal in Sidhi had come to the fore and he did quick damage control by going to Sidhi and washing the feet of the tribal victim of the incident. Amid the telangana elections, PM narendra modi has promised to set up a committee for sub-categorization of the ‘Madiga’ community in the sc quota to give them “justice”.