Decode Politics: How BJP slipped in Rajasthan, opening up space for a Congress fightback

After failing to win a single constituency in two straight Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has opened its account in Rajasthan and performing better than expected as, along with allies, it bagged 11 of the state’s 25 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Coupled with a good showing in the Shekhawati region and eastern Rajasthan, the party gained from allying in three constituencies and voting in the first two phases. Another factor that worked against the BJP was the local sentiment over unemployment as well as reservation and the Constitution, which was leveraged by the Opposition because of the BJP’s “400 paar” slogan.

The Congress-led alliance swept the Jat belt, which includes the Shekhawati region. The alliance won Churu, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, and Nagaur, where Jat candidates were in the fray. In total, five of the alliance’s 11 MPs are Jats.

On the ground, there was perceptible anger towards the BJP for several reasons:

The BJP tried to check this dissatisfaction. It inducted Jyoti Mirdha who hails from one of the two influential Mirdha Jat clans last year and then fielded her from Nagaur. Nationally, it allied with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Jayant Chaudhary, gave a Bharat Ratna to former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh, and during the campaign pointed out how several high-profile Jats such as Jagdeep Dhankar were appointed as Vice President and Kailash Choudhary as Union Minister. Moreover, the BJP also brought over Richpal Mirdha, Vijay Pal Mirdha and Alok Beniwal, all of them Jats, to cushion the community’s perceived anger against the BJP.

While Churu, Jhunjhunu, and Nagaur witnessed a direct Jat versus Jat contest where the alliance won, the alliance banked on the community’s support in other seats too such as Sikar where Amra