Home to vote: Magnetic appeal of Raj youth leaders draws in migrants from Guj
Updated: Apr 26th, 2024
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| Ravindra Singh Bhati and Rajkumar Roat (image courtesy: Instagram) |
The Lok Sabha elections are underway and migrant communities across the country are travelling back to their hometowns to vote for their favourite parties and/or candidates. For many Rajasthani labourers and businesspersons living in Gujarat, this means exercising their franchise in favour of two youth leaders, Ravindra Singh Bhati and Rajkumar Roat.
What makes this interesting is that neither Bhati nor Roat belong to either of the “biggies”—the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Congress—that dominate politics in the two states.
Jagdish, a vendor in Gandhinagar, plans to vote for Bhati in his hometown of Barmer in Rajasthan.
Bhati, the 26-year-old MLA for Sheo, is contesting the Lok Sabha 2024 elections as an independent candidate for the Barmer-Jaisalmer-Balotara seat—the country’s second-largest by area.
“People are setting aside politics to support Bhati because of the work he has done in Barmer and Jaisalmer,” Jagdish explained, adding that awareness campaigns and better transportation facilities have led to more people travelling to vote.
The vendor was one of hundreds of voters from Surat, Gandhidham, Pune, Vapi, and Rajkot seen travelling to Rajasthan on Apr 25 April to vote on Apr 26.
Meanwhile, Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) founder and two-time Chorasi MLA, Roat (31) is contesting the Banswara-Dungarpur seat—traditionally a BJP bastion—on the promise of addressing the rights of tribal groups, who make up 70% of the voter base.
Roat is going head to head with BJP candidate Mahendrajit Malviya, whose exit from the Congress prompted a last-minute alliance between BAP and the Congress, and Congress candidate Arvind Damor.
Dr Janak Singh Meena, who heads the department of Gandhian Thought and Peace Studies at the Central University of Gujarat, said, “A huge number of migrants from Rajasthan live in Gujarat and New Delhi but are keenly aware of the state of affairs back home. They are concerned with development in their localities, making both caste politics and support for their favourites key attractions to travel long distances to vote.”
Dr Kuldeep Arya, Gujarat’s Additional Chief Electoral officer, clarified that these voters are taking leave so they can travel to vote.
“While the elections are taking place in seven phases, only May 7, when Gujarat goes to the polls, has been declared a holiday. There is no holiday for the voters registered in other states but living in Gujarat to travel to vote,” he said
“People are travelling to vote in Rajasthan, because the fight is interesting. Roat is young and will fight for Adivasi rights,” Manisha, a domestic worker from Dungarpur, told Gujarat Samachar Digital.
The support for Roat, who won the Chorasi seat in the 2023 elections by a margin of 69,166 votes, has been rising given his party’s emphasis on the tribal identity. BAP has also demanded a separate state for the tribal Bhil community and has promised 75% reservation for the tribal population in education and jobs.
His popularity has rattled the BJP enough to host an event led by Prime minister Narendra Modi in the tribal dominated region on Apr 21.
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