Quite suddenly, the battle for the Churu seat has become the 'Big Fight’ of the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan. All eyes are focussed on this clash where it's not just the fate of the individuals in the fray but Congress-BJP prestige which is at stake.
It’s a tussle that may impact the state's overall political dynamics, especially which way the pivotal Jat vote bank will swing in the upcoming polls.
With 'Jaichand’ barbs flying around and jostling for Jat votes intensifying, the Churu election in the heart of Rajasthan’s Jat belt is captivating the desert state – well before even the first campaign rally has been held.
Rajput vs Jat Supremacy
What makes the Churu poll battle fascinating is that it’s not just between Congress-BJP candidates but also about an animosity among rival BJP factions that has simmered for years.
On the face of it, sitting Churu MP and Jat leader Rahul Kaswan who recently joined the Congress is facing BJP’s Devendra Jhajharia, the first Indian Paralympian to win two gold medals who is also from the Jat community.
But the covert/real fight revolves around BJP’s Rajput stalwart Rajendra Rathore and Rahul Kaswan’s Jat family who have battled for political dominance in Churu for years.
The bad blood between Rajendra Rathore and the Kaswan family spilled into the public domain during the last Assembly Elections.
Though the BJP won a clear majority in Rajasthan, Rathore, Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing assembly, lost surprisingly. Rathore was beaten in the Tara Nagar seat by senior Jat leader of the Congress Narendra Budania.
It was popularly seen as a Jat-Rajput prestige battle and Rathore could not digest his first defeat in over 30 years!
Rajasthan BJP Divided Over 'Jaichand’ Remark
Rathore soon blamed some 'Jaichands’ in the BJP as the reason for his loss which was widely seen as an indirect charge that Kaswan and his influential Jat family had sabotaged Rathore's prospects.
Blaming the Kaswans without openly naming them, Rathore argued that "While the public's verdict is acceptable, many Jaichands also played their role. They put up a good face, but have a negative mindset. Party workers are eager to pull the mask off such faces.”
Used to imply traitors, the jibe refers to Rajput king Jaichand who is called a "traitor" for plotting Prithviraj Chauhan’s defeat against Afghan ruler Mohammad Ghori in the second battle of Tarain.
Inevitably, Rathore is now seen as instrumental in the BJP denying a ticket to Kaswan.
After initially questioning for what fault he was dropped by the BJP bosses, Kaswan also indirectly targeted Rathore while addressing his supporters in Churu. Referring to the 'Jaichand’ jibe, Kaswan asserted, “those who live among Jaichands, also talk about Jaichands. Can any single person decide who should live and who should die? We will decide our future ourselves.”
Raje’s Close Aide: A Factor That Led to Kaswan’s Fall From Grace?
Beyond the Rathore-Kaswan clash, there’s another dimension to the Churu saga: Rahul and his father Ramsingh Kaswan are considered close to former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
As her loyalists, they organised a grand birthday bash when Raje turned 70 in March 2023. The huge gathering at a temple town in Churu was seen as a bid to showcase Raje’s mass appeal and convince BJP’s top brass to make her the party’s CM face in Rajasthan. Many are buzzing that proximity to Raje was also a factor in dropping Rahul Kaswan.
Ironically, even Rathore was a key Vasundhara loyalist for years.
Later, relations between the two soured and Rathore switched loyalties and has been cosying up to the BJP’s central leadership. Such is Rathore’s closeness to BJP’s top brass now that even Rahul Kaswan's personal relationship with Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar could not save his ticket. Rahul is married to the daughter of Kuldeep Dhankhar, the elder brother of the VP.
Jat Vote Bank Central to Both Congress and the BJP
Besides exposing BJP rifts, the Churu drama reflects how intensely BJP-Congress are vying for support from the influential Jat community.
Comprising around 12% of the electorate, the Jats are the state’s biggest vote bank and exert a dominant impact on 10 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan.
They are unhappy with the BJP over mishandling farmer protests and the MSP issue, poor treatment of women wrestlers, and the lack of positions for Jat leaders in the current BJP government in Rajasthan.
As both parties woo Jats, the BJP inducted over two dozen Congress leaders on 10 March which included several Jat leaders like Lalchand Kataria, a senior minister of the Gehlot government till last December, former MLAs Ricchpal and Vijay Mirdha from Nagaur’s famous Mirdha clan, and Alok Beniwal, an ex-MLA and son of former Deputy CM of Rajasthan Kamla Beniwal.
Most of them blamed the Congress for ignoring Jat leaders.
What Prompted Kaswan’s Congress Innings?
A day after this exodus, the Congress announced its prize catch, as Rahul Kaswan joined the Grand Old Party on 11 March. Besides Rahul being a two-time MP, the Kaswan family is a formidable force in Churu.
In Jat politics, the Kaswans are considered as influential a political lineage as the Mirdhas in Nagaur, the Ola family in Jhunjhunu, and the Maderna clan in Jodhpur. Rahul and his dad Ram Singh Kaswan have won the Churu seat for the last five Lok Sabha elections.
Significantly, Rahul Kaswan says he felt suffocated in the BJP and as it ignored the voice of farmers, he moved to the Congress. The next day, the Congress handed the Churu ticket to Kaswan in its first list of Lok Sabha candidates for Rajasthan.
With the farmer's agitation a major headache for the BJP, the Kaswan switch has enthused the Congress which hopes his entry will help to offset the impact of the recent exodus of its leaders. Besides the Kaswan catch, the Congress is also pursuing key Jat leader Hanuman Beniwal for an alliance on a couple of Lok Sabha seats.
While joining the Congress, Kaswan even attacked the ‘feudal mindset’ in the Rajasthan BJP, a barb aimed at the Rajput origins of Rajendra Rathore who reportedly plotted the denial of a BJP ticket to Kaswan. Clearly, Kaswan wants to encash Jat's anger as the agricultural community is upset with BJP's attempts to suppress the farmers’ agitation where most farmer unions are led by Jats.
Polls in Churu Fraught With Caste Barbs
The Kaswan-Rathore hostility has virtually split Churu along caste lines as the duo constitute a Jat-Rajput rivalry.
Recently, a transfer list of some Jat officials being moved out of Churu and Taranagar, from where Rathore lost the Assembly Election, went viral on social media and led to charges of Rathore being vindictive towards the Jat community.
State Congress chief and Jat leader Govind Singh Dotasra also jumped into this row and alleged that despite losing the election, Rathore was prompting transfers on caste basis.
With Rathore’s ‘Jaichand’ barbs hurting many in Kaswan’s Jat community and Rahul’s ‘feudal mindset’ jibe targeting Rathore-Rajput domination in Rajasthan BJP, the political clash in Churu is acquiring a Jat-Rajput edge.
Instead of a Kaswan-Jhajharia contest, the Churu election is turning into a Kaswan-Rathore battle amid growing worries of caste frictions boiling over in Churu once the poll heat escalates!
As Rajasthan braces for the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP and Congress have intensified their efforts to woo Jat voters.
With leaders from both parties switching sides, the impact on Jat voters has become a key imponderable. Despite losing the last Assembly elections, the Congress is pinning its hopes on Jat belt seats to prevent a hat-trick of BJP’s clean sweep of Rajasthan’s 25 Lok Sabha seats as in 2014 and 2019.
While Churu promises a poll thriller, the BJP-Congress tussle for Jat votes has made Rajasthan an intriguing electoral battleground!
(The author is a veteran journalist and expert on Rajasthan politics. Besides serving as a Resident Editor at NDTV, he has been a Professor of Journalism at the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur. He tweets @rajanmahan.This is an opinion article and the views expressed are the author's own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
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