 "Rahul Kaswan")
On April 5, Prime Minister Modi addressed Rajasthan’s Churu Lok Sabha constituency, making a personal appeal to voters by saying, “Narendra ke Devendra,” asking for votes for BJP candidate Devendra Jhajharia, a two-time Paralympic gold medallist javelin thrower. PM Modi also spoke about his resemblance and interaction with the BJP candidate Jhajharia, the son of a poor mother who struggled his way up to make a name for his family and the nation.
The desert constituency of Churu has been a stronghold for the BJP, holding the seat securely for 30 years straight. The party clinched victory consecutively, with the sitting BJP MP Rahul Kaswan securing it in both 2014 and 2019. Kaswan took over from his father, veteran BJP politician Ramsingh Kaswan, who represented the constituency in 1991 and then again from 1999 to 2014. Even during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP faced setbacks in 21 out of 25 seats, Churu remained firmly in the party’s camp.
Churu will vote in Lok Sabha elections in the first phase of polling on April 19, along with 102 seats across 21 states and union territories and the counting of votes will be held on June 4.
The lost candidacy
In the 2019 general elections, BJP’s Rahul Kaswan won his second term by a margin of over 3,34,000 votes, securing over 60 per cent of the vote share against the Congress. This time also the seat was widely expected to be won by the BJP until the party’s candidate announcement. On March 2, the BJP’s initial candidate list surprised sitting MP Rahul Kaswan and his supporters, who anticipated a prominent role for him in Modi 3.0. However, the party nominated Paralympian Devendra Jhajahriya, another Jat candidate, for the seat instead.
Rahul Kaswan, now a candidate for Congress, expressed his dissatisfaction on March 8, tweeting, “What is my crime?” after being dropped as a BJP candidate. With no response from party leaders, he joined the Congress on March 11 in the presence of Mallikarjun Kharge.
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आखिर मेरा गुनाह क्या था...?
— Rahul Kaswan (@RahulKaswanMP) March 4, 2024
क्या मैं ईमानदार नहीं था ?
क्या मैं मेहनती नहीं था ?
क्या मैं निष्ठावान नहीं था ?
क्या मैं दागदार था ?
क्या मैंने चूरू लोकसभा में काम करवाने में कोई कमी छोड़ दी थी ?
मा. प्रधानमंत्री जी की सभी योजनाओं के क्रियान्वयन में, मैं सबसे आगे था।
ओर क्या…
Despite his family ties to Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankar, his supporters seemed disappointed that even this connection couldn’t secure his candidacy in the BJP’s list.
The political rivalry
Kaswan hails from a political family. His father, Ramsingh Kaswan, was a prominent political figure from the Jat community who joined the BJP in 1991. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) once and as a Member of Parliament (MP) for five terms until 2014. In 2014, replacing Ramsingh, the BJP fielded his son, Rahul Kaswan, in the general elections. Ramsingh Kaswan often clashed with Rajendra Rathore, a Rajput BJP leader from Churu. Rathore, a seven-time MLA and former opposition leader in the Rajasthan assembly, also held significant sway in the region.
In 2023, Rathore, considered close to PM Modi, fought the assembly election from Taranagar of Churu district and lost despite being a CM prospect, with PM Modi holding a rally in the constituency.
Rathore blamed the “Jaichands” of the party, specifically the Kaswan family, for his defeat by working against the party and rallying the Jats against him.
The caste rivalry
Despite both the Congress and BJP nominating Jat candidates for the constituency, the underlying tension on the ground revolves around the historic rivalry between Jats and Rajputs. Kaswan, feeling sidelined, accused Rajendra Rathore, a prominent Rajput leader, for the removal of his name from the list and positioning Jhajharia as a substitute. He alleges discrimination against the Jat community by Rathore, citing the transfer of numerous government employees from Churu, who are predominantly Jats, to far-off regions of the state.
With 2.2 million voters in the constituency, the 600,000-strong Jat community holds considerable influence. The decision to deny Kaswan a ticket not only upset the community but also raised concerns about their representation in the newly formed state BJP government. Additionally, the Agniveer scheme has sparked discontent among local youth. It is seen as a barrier to their aspirations of joining the Indian Army. This issue is compounded by the reduced frequency of army recruitment rallies, a longstanding avenue of employment in the area.
Moreover, the farmer’s protest seems to have struck a chord within the Jat community, as evidenced by the BJP’s reduced seat count in the Churu district during the 2023 state assembly elections, where they secured only three out of eight seats.
In Churu, the contest isn’t just between party symbols. Instead, it’s a narrative deeply entrenched in longstanding rivalries. The Kaswan family, representing the Jat community, squares off against the BJP’s Rajput leader, Rajendra Rathore, in a clash of prestige and power. While the spotlight may shine on individual candidates like Kaswan and Jhajharia, the underlying dynamics reveal a broader struggle between Rahul Kaswan and Rajendra Rathore, emblematic of the age-old feud between Jats and Rajputs in the region.
