Rajya Sabha
Credit: PTI via Sansad TV
Jaipur: BJP’s Rajya Sabha candidate selection strategy in Rajasthan focuses on getting its caste arithmetic right and wooing major sections of adivasis and OBC communities, just before the Lok Sabha Elections.
BJP announced Chunnilal Garasia and Madan Rathore as its two candidates for Rajya Sabha seat from the desert state.
Garasia is a veteran tribal leader and an experienced organisational man from the time of former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
Garasia has been the national vice-president of Scheduled Caste Morcha and is presently the national vice-president of the state BJP. His candidature has been done keeping in mind the tribal population in the state in context of the Lok Sabha elections.
STs comprise at least 13.48% of the total population, as per the 2011 Census. The Garasias are considered the third largest tribal population of the state. Garasia’s candidature is expected to have an effect on Lok Sabha constituencies of Udaipur, Banswara and Dungarpur, where the tribals dominate.
The Rajya Sabha vacated by Rajasthan minister and influential tribal leader Dr Kirori Lal Meena, would now be filled by another tribal leader Garasia.
“The move is to woo all sections of the society. So that no caste feels left behind and is given representation at all levels,” Sunil Bhargava, convenor, Policy and Research wing, BJP told Deccan Herald.
The other candidate Madan Rathore is from the OBC caste and is said to be from the same caste as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that of Modh-Ganchi, one of the many Teli sub-castes.
He is one of the most prominent leaders from Godwad region of Rajasthan, which comprises the districts Pali, Jalore and Sirohi, which touch the Gujarat border. He hails from Sumerpur in Pali and was disgruntled when he was refused a ticket for the Vidhan Sabha elections in 2023.
A two-time legislator from Pali in 2003 and 2013, he was all ready to fight the last elections as an Independent when Modi is supposed to have called him, which is when he withdrew from the race. An organisational man, he was the deputy chief whip of BJP in the House from 2013 to 2018.
In the Congress camp, it is being said that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi,77, may run for Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan as it is being considered as the safest seat for her.
Earlier the seat was held by Manmohan Singh from Rajasthan. She is the sitting MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareilly seat, considered a Gandhi family borough.She has represented the seat since 2004. Her mother-n-law and former Prime Minister had represented the seat from 1967 to 1977.
Although there are feelers from the Southern states as well, Rajasthan leaders state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra and Opposition leader Tikaram Jully have urged and written a letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to declare her candidature. Jully in a video said her candidature from Rajasthan would enthuse and motivate the workers across Rajasthan.
Sonia Gandhi, as a Parliamentarian, has participated in six debates in her present tenure including on the Bill on Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, that reserves one-third of the total number of seats in Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies for women, on MNREGA, mid-day meals and raised the issue of privatisation of modern coach factory in Rae Bareli, according to PRS Legislative Research website.
Two other names from Congress are doing the rounds in case Sonia refuses the entry through RS. Ajay Maken and former Alwar MP and royal scion Jitendra Singh are the other probable candidates. Feb 15 is the last date for filing nominations. Feb 27 would be result day.
Out of the three Rajya Sabha seats up for grabs from Rajasthan, two would be for BJP and one for Congress, according to the calculations. The tenure of two seats held by Congress’s Manmohan Singh and BJP’s Bhupendra Yadav is over.
Rajasthan has overall 10 Rajya Sabha seats, out of which Congress is present on 6 seats while three are held by BJP.