Massive buzz around Ravindra Singh Bhati in Barmer: Will Rajput rebel spring a surprise?

In Rajasthan's Barmer, all eyes will be on the 27-year-old fiery Rajput rebel leader Ravindra Singh Bhati. Bhati's announcement to contest independently from India's second-largest constituency has made the Barmer contest a triangular one between the BJP, Congress and himself. 

Ravindra Singh Bhati, who has set off a desert storm of sorts, filed his nomination papers independently after the BJP denied him a ticket. Bhati is seen as a crowd-puller who is very popular among Jat as well as Rajput voters. 

Who is Ravindra Singh Bhati?

At present, Ravindra Bhati is the MLA from the Sheo assembly constituency in Barmer which he won in 2023 Rajasthan elections. With this, he became the youngest MLA in the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly Elections alongside Anshuman Singh Bhati. 

Bhati captured national headlines for the first time in 2019 when he contested the Jodhpur university students' union elections as an independent since he was denied a ticket by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

In this election, he defeated a student who was said to be a nominee of the then CM Ashok Gehlot. He has also served as the President of Jai Narain Vyas University Student Union from 2019-22. During this time, Bhati addressed several student concerns including but not limited to fee issues amid the challenging coronavirus pandemic. 

Barmer Lok Sabha contest

In the coming Lok Sabha elections, Bhati will contest against BJP's Kailash Choudhary and Congress' Umeda Ram Beniwal. Both Chaudhary and Beniwal belong to Jat community, considered a significant vote bank in Barmer.

The BJP's decision to repeat Choudhary from Barmer is likely to have stemmed from the dissatisfaction among the Rajputs with the saffron party. They believe that the BJP has focused itself on garnering more support among other dominant landed communities like Jats and Gurjars, making them feel sidelined. 

Rajput community also believes that the local BJP leaders haven't addressed their concerns adequately. In Gujarat, Rajput leaders have also sought the withdrawal of Union Minister Parshottam Rupala's candidature over his remarks on Kshatriyas. 

BJP pocket borough since 2014

The seat has been a BJP bastion since the 2014 general elections. In 2014, BJP's Sona Ram won the seat with more than 4.88 lakh votes and a vote share of 40.62 per cent. The seat went to BJP's Kailash Choudhary in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Kailash Choudhary won the seat by more than 8.46 lakh votes and commanded a vote share of 59.52 per cent.

Before this, former Defence Minister Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh has also contested from the seat twice. In 2004, Singh became the MP from Barmer after securing 6.31 lakh votes and commanding a vote share of more than 60 per cent. In 2009, Singh lost the seat to Congress' Harish Chaudhary.