What customs will change with 3M in Rajasthan? Congress made a unique formula

Rajasthan Election: Even though the campaign for Rajasthan Assembly elections started with development, by the end caste politics came into the picture. PM Modi tried to strengthen the political base of BJP again and was seen putting Congress in the dock against Dalits and Gurjars. At the same time, this time Congress has entered the field with new social engineering to change the customs of Rajasthan. Congress is trying to return to power by maintaining its strong hold on the vote bank of its three-M formula i.e. Meena-Muslim-Mali community.

Jat-Rajput and Gurjar votes play an important role in the politics of Rajasthan. The Rajput community has been a traditional voter for BJP since the beginning and so have the Gurjars, but the Jat voters have been changing their mood. Congress is trying to keep Gujjars simple while maintaining strength on Jat and tribal votes and changing the customs with the help of its core vote bank Meena-Muslim-Mali i.e. M-Formula.

CM Gehlot himself comes from Mali community. Congress released a video of Gehlot on November 17, in which Gehlot is seen saying, 'Just like a gardener takes care of every flower in a garden, in the same way I have taken care of all the 36 communities of Rajasthan. 'In this way Gehlot is trying to portray himself as the leader of the entire society, but 3-M is standing firmly with the Congress. In such a situation, it is about the three-M formula of Congress…

Meena-Mali-Muslim (Three-M)

In Rajasthan, Congress is hoping to return to power with the help of three-M equation. In the state, Meenas are 7 percent, Muslims are 9 percent and Malis are 2.5 to 3 percent. In this way, the votes of these three castes would have been around 19 percent, a major part of which Congress is expected to get. Meena has been a traditional voter of Congress since the beginning and due to Gehlot, Mali voters have also become the core votebank of the party. Meena and Gurjar have their own political enmity. While Gurjars have been with BJP, the trust of Meena community has been towards Congress.

This time BJP has not given ticket to even a single Muslim in Rajasthan and is openly playing the game of Hindutva, due to which Congress can get the outright votes of Muslim voters. The Muslim voting pattern in Karnataka, Bengal and UP elections also clearly shows that they can vote unilaterally in Rajasthan. In this way, Congress is hopeful of getting the votes of all the three castes – Meena, Muslim and Mali.

Meena voters 7 percent

A large section of the tribal community in Rajasthan belongs to the Meena community. Politically, the Meena community is considered very strong and has been an old vote bank for the Congress. That is why BJP has fielded the biggest leader of this community, Kirori Lal Meena, but he has old differences with Vasundhara Raje. Due to this, he left BJP in 2008, but returned to the party and contested the elections as a Lok Sabha MP. Congress has a long list of leaders from Meena community.

Meena community plays a decisive role in about 40 to 50 seats of Rajasthan. Meena voters are effective in Alwar, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Dausa, Jhalawar, Tonk, Udaipur, Kota, Baran, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Bhilwara, Pratapgarh and Chittorgarh districts. That is why Congress has fielded maximum Meena candidates in the tickets given to the tribal community. Not only this, he has been made a candidate for the reserved seat as well as the general seat.

Muslim community 9 percent

In Rajasthan, 9 percent Muslim voters decide victory or defeat in 40 assembly seats. Muslim candidates have been winning on 16 assembly seats of Rajasthan like Pushkar, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Churu, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Nagaur, Jaisalmer and Barmer. Apart from this, there are 24 seats in the state where Muslim voters play an important role. Their vote not only affects the results of elections but sometimes also decides victory or defeat.

For the first time after its formation, BJP has not made any Muslim a candidate in this election in Rajasthan. This time Congress has fielded 14 Muslim candidates. BJP has fielded Muslim candidates in every election from 1980 to 2018. In 2013, tickets were given to 4 Muslims, out of which two won, whereas in 2018, only one Yunus Khan was made a candidate, but no one was given ticket in 2023. This is the reason why Congress is hoping to get the votes of Muslims outright this time and Muslim voters decide the fate of 40 assembly seats in Rajasthan, out of which Congress is currently in control of 33 seats.

MBC strength more on Mali 3%

In Rajasthan, Mali community is two and a half to three percent and plays a decisive role in 26 assembly seats. Mali voters Jaipur, Amer, Virat Nagar, Civil Line, Malviya Nagar, Sanganer, Vidyadhar Nagar, Gangapur, Dhol Dholpur, Alwar city, Ramgarh, Bandikui, Dausa, Chaumun. Neem police station, Udaipurwati, Nawalgarh, Ajmer North, Kekdi, Kota, Ladpura, Sangod, Anta, Hindoli, Sirohi, Jaitaran, Bikaner East as well as Jodhpur and Nagaur seats are important.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot comes from the Mali community, due to which Congress has become a strong vote bank. Mali may be close to three percent, but Saini, Kushwaha, Shakya, Maurya, Maurya, Suman, Vanmali, Bhoi Mali communities are also a sub-caste of Mali, whose vote bank is about 15 percent. Congress has been projecting Gehlot as an OBC leader not only in Rajasthan but in the country. This is the reason why not only Mali but also the vote of MBC i.e. Extremely Backward Class is there, Congress is also trying to harness it.

To deal with the anti-incumbency wave in Rajasthan, Congress has canceled the tickets of its 23 sitting MLAs and is betting on new faces in their place. According to political analysts, this time there is no resentment towards Ashok Gehlot, due to which Congress has entered the electoral fray by keeping it around him. The resentment was about the MLAs and Congress has canceled the tickets of 23 MLAs. While Congress has given the maximum number of tickets from the Jat community, it has fielded more tickets from the Gurjar community than BJP. While Congress has placed its bet on Meena caste in the tribal community, it has also maintained its trust on Muslims. In this way, Congress has adopted the strategy of wooing other castes along with its core vote bank Three-M. In such a situation, now it remains to be seen whether this move of Congress is successful or not?