Bhopal: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has begun to woo the other backward classes (OBCs) and Dalits for the ensuing Panchayat elections and the next year’s assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh. The state has nearly 1.84 crore people belonging to OBC category.
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Aside from that, the state had 21.5% of tribal voters and 15.6% of Dalit voters. A large section of these groups did not vote for the BJP in the last assembly election in 2018. Therefore, as part of its plan, the party has given tickets to an OBC candidate Kavita Patidar and an SC candidate Sumitra Valmiki for Rajya Sabha.
Valmiki is the former chairperson of Jabalpur Municipal Corporation and present vice-president of the state BJP. The party has already claimed that it played an important role in giving 27% reservation to the OBC candidates for the upcoming Panchayat elections which are beginning from June 25.
Valmiki is from Mahakaushal region in Madhya Pradesh and Patidar is from Indore. Valmiki is a prominent face from the Mahakaushal region (Jabalpur) where the community has strong presence and plays a critical role in the assembly election.
By sending two women candidates to Rajya Sabha, the ruling party wants to justify its claim that it is working for women’s empowerment, a BJP leader said. The party also wants to convey the message that that it believes in sending its leaders from grass-roots to top positions. Both the women candidates are the party’s grass-roots workers.
He further said that many senior leaders may be disappointed about the selection of Rajya Sabha candidates, but it would boost the party workers’ confidence. Three RS seats from Madhya Pradesh are falling vacant. Although the BJP has given tickets to two women candidates, the Congress has given RS ticket to senior advocate Vivek Tankha for the second term.
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According to sources in the Congress, the party’s top leadership wanted to give tickets for Rajya Sabha to a Dalit candidate, but the state leadership backed Tankha’s candidature. The state has 11 seats in Rajya Sabha – the BJP holds eight and the Congress three. President of MP Congress Committee Kamal Nath said that Tankha had been selected for his hard work for the party.
