The Opposition Congress’s decision to enter into an alliance in Rajasthan with two parties for the Lok Sabha election is set to pose a challenge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Jat belt. The politically influential Jat community, which was a traditional adherent of Congress, has largely shifted its support to the BJP during the last decade, as the saffron party swept the 2014 and 2019 general elections by winning all the 25 seats in the State.
The Congress has extended support to Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) chief Hanuman Beniwal in Nagaur and Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Amra Ram in Sikar, both of whom have been fielded as the INDIA bloc’s candidates. Both Mr. Beniwal and Mr. Ram belong to the Jat community.
Besides the two candidates, the Congress has given tickets to six Jats in the constituencies where the community has a significant population. They include Rahul Kaswan (Jhunjhunu), who resigned both as an MP and from the BJP’s primary membership, and Ummeda Ram Beniwal (Barmer), who left the RLP and joined Congress.
