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In a move to woo a crucial OBC community in Rajasthan months before the state Assembly elections, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has announced the constitution of a Shri Krishna Board for the Yadav community.
The announcement, which was made by Gehlot on Sunday, while he was meeting a delegation of leaders from the Yadav community at his residence, is aimed at sending a message to the state’s Yadavs that the Congress is committed towards their welfare.
Yadavs are concentrated in regions such as Alwar and rural Jaipur, making the community electorally significant in eastern Rajasthan. In recent times, the rise of Mahant Balak Nath, the BJP MP of Alwar and a Yadav, has been a concern for the Congress.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Balak Nath defeated Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, the tallest Congress leader in Alwar, to win the parliamentary seat. Since then, Balak Nath has consistently cornered the Congress over issues such as the demolition of a temple in Alwar by local authorities, or by comparing the Grand Old Party to the Mughals.
On Sunday, while meeting the Yadav leaders, including two MLAs —Sandeep Yadav of the Congress and the Independent, Baljeet Yadav from Behror, a fierce critic of Balak Nath — Gehlot said he will also write a letter to the Centre, supporting the longstanding Yadav demand for the creation of an Ahir (i.e. Yadav) regiment in the Indian Army. “Yadavs comprise around 1.5-2% of Rajasthan’s population. The CM’s decision, to constitute a Shri Krishna Board, will help raise the educational, social and religious profiles of the community,” Congress leader and former Alwar MP Karan Singh Yadav, who was part of the delegation of Yadav leaders who met Gehlot, told The Indian Express. He added that the move will further attract the Yadav community towards the Congress.
While with an estimated population of over 10%, Jats are Rajasthan’s most dominant OBC community, Yadavs too are a significant OBC group in the state who are electorally significant in eastern Rajasthan, albeit with fewer numbers.
At present, Rajasthan’s Yadav community enjoys one ministerial berth in the state government — Congress leader Rajendra Singh Yadav is the MoS for Home. As part of its social engineering tactics ahead of the state polls, the Gehlot government has been reaching out to different caste groups by constituting boards for each. It has formed a Vipra Kalyan Board for Brahmins, the Veer Tejaji Board for Jats, the Veer Shiromani Maharana Pratap Board for Rajputs, Rajasthan Charm Shilp Kala Vikas Board for tanners and leather workers, the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Board for Scheduled Caste Sainis, Kushwahas and Malis, the Rajak Kalyan Board for dhobis and the Rajasthan Keshkala Board for the Sains.
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