Caste plays key role in Gujarat candidates’ selection

AHMEDABAD: Political parties may claim that the caste arithmetic does not play a role in candidate selection but analysts say it is still a major factor in Gujarat, even though urbanisation has weakened caste identities in some parts of the state.

In rural areas, however, caste is still a dominant factor, they said. Patidars constitute 11-12 per cent of Gujarat’s 6.5-crore population and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), scattered across many sub-communities including Thakors in north and Kolis in central Gujarat and Saurashtra, constitute around 40 per cent.

The BJP has fielded six

Patidars, seven OBCs and three Kolis. The Congress and the AAP, part of the opposition INDIA alliance, have fielded six Patidars, seven OBCs and Kolis.

Vidyut Joshi, sociologist and former vice-chancellor of Bhavnagar University, told PTI that Gujarat’s first four chief ministers were either Brahmin or Vanik. Patidars entered the political scene after the 70s when Chimanbhai Patel became the chief minister in 1973, he said.

“Caste is an identity. The caste factor is considered in the selection of candidates. It cannot be discarded. Today, caste and class go hand-in-hand. The candidate should be from a well-to-do background along with being from a specific caste,” Joshi said.

Rural voters prefer candidates from their caste as they feel it becomes easier to approach them for work after the polls, he said.

Political analyst Amit Dholakia said the caste effect is diminishing in central and south Gujarat’s urban pockets like Ahmedabad and Vadodara but it is still a dominant factor in rural areas like Saurashtra and north Gujarat.

“Candidates have won from seats where their caste was not dominant. Urbanisation plays an important role in weakening caste identities and bringing forward other issues. In rural areas, particularly Saurashtra and north Gujarat, caste still plays an important role in politics,” said Dholakia, a political science professor at the Vadodara-based M S University.

Earlier, candidates directly appealed to people of their caste to vote for them. Now, the appeal revolves either around Hindutva or Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development agenda, he said. Dholakia further said, “The

BJP wants to create a consolidated Hindu vote by blurring caste identities, while the INDIA alliance thinks Hindutva-centric politics can be countered by strengthening caste identities.”

One of the main reasons the Congress was defeated in Gujarat was the weakening of caste identities, at least in urban pockets, he claimed. “Caste is a factor in the selection of candidates, especially in Saurashtra. Patidars are still a force to reckon with but other castes, especially Kshatriyas, are losing dominance. We cannot discard the caste factor but it is getting weak, mainly because of the rise of Hindutva-centric politics,” he said.

Despite urbanisation weakening caste identities, it is still a dominant factor in rural areas, say political scientists