New Delhi: Indians don’t cast their votes; they vote their caste. Nowhere this adage is exemplified than in the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous and politically important state.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that political parties cannot seek votes in the name of religion, caste, region or language, they have been doing exactly the same. Though caste politics is common across India, politicians prefer to play it intensely in UP and Bihar.
Even in Rajasthan, parties give election tickets in proportion to a caste’s population — and they call it “social engineering”. Jats get the maximum tickets and ministerial berths. Out of 200 Assembly seats, 107 are dominated by only two communities.
Yet, Rajasthan has proved to be an exception. For the longest time, it has been ruled by chief ministers who defied logic of caste politics.
Despite belonging to a community not in a position to influence electoral outcome, they became chief ministers more than once. Along with them, some other political stalwarts also broke caste barriers to win from a constituency dominated by other castes:
Mohan Lal Sukhadia: The longest-serving chief minister belonged to Jain community, which controls trade and business. It is heavily concentrated in some pockets still not in a position to influence a single seat. In 1954, Sukhadia defeated the tallest Congress leader of that time, Jai Narayan Vyas, to become the youngest chief minister at the age of 34, which he held continuously for 17 years till 1971.
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat: The former Vice-President, affectionately called “Babo sa” by supporters, was not only the chief minister thrice, but also the most admired and popular leader even after his death. He came from a traditional Rajput family, yet took a firm stand against sati (widow killing herself) and jagirdari system (land tenancy).
A proof of Shekhawat’s popularity can be gauged from the fact that he contested elections from different parts of the state, from Sriganganagar in the north to Chabra in Jhalawar district in the south, from urban Jaipur to rural Dataramgarh, a constituency dominated by Rajput’s arch rivals, Jats.
Barkatullah Khan: Rajasthan is the fifth state in the country, apart from Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir, to appoint a Muslim chief minister.
Khan replaced Mohan Lal Sukhadia in 1971 as chief minister till his death in 1973. Although Muslims play a crucial role — not in Jodhpur from where he used to get elected — the city is dominated by Pushkarna Brahmins, Oswal Jains and Mali community.
Shiv Charan Mathur: Born in Madhya Pradesh, Mathur is a Kayastha by caste, a community that is numerically insignificant on a single seat. However, regarded as an able administrator, Mathur twice served as chief minister of the state, besides Union minister and governor.
Ashok Gehlot: He became Union minister at 29; state Congress chief at 33, and chief minister at 47. His case is bit different as his Mali community has significant presence in different areas across the state, but still not that much to give him a chance to become chief minister twice.
Vasundhara Raje: Daughter of BJP’s founder Vijaya Raje Scindia, Ms Raje is a Maratha who married into the royal family of Dholpur, which was a Jat kingdom. She is the most popular leader of the BJP after late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. She gave BJP its first majority government in 2003.
