The Other Backward Class (OBC) candidates are dominating the first list of BJP candidates in Rajasthan as out of 15 declared candidates eight are OBC. This is being taken as a counter to Congress's rhetoric of OBC reservation.
There are 25 seats in Rajasthan and BJP has declared candidates for 15 seats. The list is a good mix of representation of all castes but OBC and especially Jats are dominating it.
The Jats are in OBC in Rajasthan and out of a total of eight OBC candidates five are Jats. This includes Devendra Jhanjhadiya from Churu, a para Olympion and new face on the seat.
Besides him, Jyoti Mirdha from Pali, Union minister Kailash Choudhary from Barmer, Sumdhanand Sarasvati from Sikar and Dushyant Singh from Jhalawar are other Jat candidates.
The Jats are the biggest vote bank in Rajasthan with more than 12 per cent of votes across the state. The other OBC candidates are Bhupendra Yadav from Alwar, PP Choudhary from Pali and Lumbaram Choudhary from Jalour. The party is yet to decide candidates on ten seats and around 2-3 more tickets are likely to go to the OBC.
Apart from OBC the BJP has focused on its core vote bank of Rajputs, Brahmins and Vaishy communities of the general category. This includes Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from Jodhpur, party state president CP Joshi from Chittorgarh and Loksabha Speaker Om Birla from Kota respectively.
two tickets each have been given to SC-ST candidates on the reserved for these categories. These are Union Minister Arjun Meghwal from Bikaner Ramswaroop Koli from Bharatpur Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya from Banswara and Manna Lal Rawat from Udaipur.
