BJP's marquee 'class' castes doubt on Congress pitch

With impressive victory in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, BJP seems to have virtually triumphed over the politics of caste ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

BJP's experiment with the welfare of 'Yuva, Mahila, Kisan and Garib' has paid political dividends in the three Hindi heartland states. The road ahead now looks easy amid its attempts to bring various castes under an umbrella of "class politics" with the help of the welfare schemes launched by the Modi government.

While interacting with beneficiaries of the schemes at the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the combination of four - "youth, women, farmers and poor" - as "the biggest castes".


Although Congress remains a major political player in these three states, the poll results brought disappointment in the entire opposition camp, which has been pushing for caste census ahead of the 2024 LS polls. The issue was put to political test in the assembly polls after the Bihar government conducted its own caste survey and increased the quota for OBCs, SCs and STs.

The Congress was trying to woo OBC voters by promising to conduct caste census in the three states during its poll campaign. As things stand today, the Congress is left nowhere despite its attempts to associate with the Mandal politics, of which it is a victim.

BJP focused on its welfare schemes and engaged its workers to highlight fast delivery of benefits that they termed "Modi Ki Guarantee".