Caste equations in Gujarat politics have eclipsed everything else in the race to Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Be it Parshottam Rupala’s comments on Kshatriyas, or Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ramanlal Vora’s harsh comments  to a tribal party worker, or Kajal Hindustani on Patidars, the ‘caste pride’ has been brought in. The run-of-the-mill election issues like development, unemployment, health, and education have taken a backseat, with ‘caste’ being the centrepiece, even with the voters.

The latest addition to this caste-based tussles may have been on the hands of Parshottam Rupala, but its roots can be found in 2017, when Alpesh Thakor, Hardik Patel, and Jignesh Mevani came out with their caste issues on a public platform, with public support. That has changed the political equations of Gujarat. BJP managed a narrow victory in a state considered a fortress for them, with Congress winning 77 seats and BJP winning 112 seats. 

The extent of caste-based politics had grown so strong that if the Congress had won a few more seats, it had a chance to form the government in Gujarat.

After this, various efforts were  made by the BJP to include the Congress leaders into the party.

This proved to be a success for BJP, as in the 2019 elections, Congress did not win a single Lok Sabha seat. For the first time in a municipality like Surat, not a single candidate of the Congress party won. Recently, in Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC), the remaining two Congress councillors also resigned, leaving no Congress candidate in the GMC.

Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were declared, the political situation in Gujarat is  once again based on four separate seats in which many districts were openly given political seats by the BJP and Congress on the basis of caste.

Even after that, caste-related debates are coming to the fore, leaving other important issues well behind.