Jaipur: The powerful Jat community that is basically a farming class plays a key role in state politics and has emerged as a force to reckon with. The Jats have been loyal to Congress and after the 1957 Vidhan Sabha and LS polls, the Jats started showing its worth in the political arena.
As Jats were with Congress, it contributed to the success of Congress right upto 1972. After that other parties particularly BJP led by patriarch Bhairon Singh Shekhawat started wooing Jats into the BJP fold and after Jats started supporting BJP, the saffron party emerged strong, particularly in rural areas.
BJP backed by the Jat community began spreading its wings in rural areas, at the cost of the Congress. The die was cast and the Jats drifted away from Congress. But Jats maintained a divided loyalty using opportunism as a tool and their endeavour was based on the political climate.
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The Congress fielded a Jat Olympian Krishna Punia, a CWG gold medallist pitted against a Rajput Union minister for sports Rajyavardhan Singh Rathor, an Olympic silver medallist in shooting. Manvendra Singh, former BJP MP who joined Congress is facing BJP’s Jat candidate Kailash Choudhry. Thus both parties rely on support of Jats for electoral success.
In Jodhpur, Vaibhav Gehlot, son of CM Ashok Gehlot, is finding it tough to get success of both Jat and another similar community called Bishnois. Gehlot’s successs would depend on support that he receives from both Jat and the Bishnois as his rival Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is a Rajput.
